Core Values at Stonebridge

The Gospel: The Gospel is at the very heart of who we are and what we are to be as God’s people. We acknowledge there to be but one truth; that is set forth in the “God-breathed” Scriptures. That truth in its most succinct form is the Gospel: that all people are in need of a Savior, that God has planned for those needs from the beginning of time itself, that Jesus Christ – who is the Savior – has come and finished the work, and that He will come again to complete the plan. The Gospel is the center of all we do. It is the reason, the inspiration, the motive, the source of all strength and encouragement. It is what the world needs and it is the gift that we are to share. We believe that all of Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, is Gospel (“Good News”) and that its doctrines are well summarized in “The Essentials of Our Faith” and explained in the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.

Covenant Family & Community: God’s people are intended to live out the Gospel in the context of the family and the body of Christ. God created people; they matter to Him and to us. The Gospel sets us free from self-concern and enables us to love and serve others in faithful obedience to membership vows. We believe that God intends us to live this Gospel out in faithful covenant families and in the covenant community. The covenant community is the Church; where Christians unite in intimate, ever-deepening relationships and through which we experience the message of God’s and Christ’s covenant It is from this community and these families that we reach out with the Gospel to make disciples of all nations, and it is to this community and these families that we invite them.

Worship: Our eternal purpose is to worship the Lord and we are blessed to begin our worship even now. The Gospel is the story of God’s work of sending His Son to earth to give life and hope to a desperate world. The worship of God is a reflective responsive as our hearts are transformed by His grace by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we grow in grace, every moment and aspect of our lives becomes the worship of God as we glorify Him by enjoying Him. We are committed to worshipping our Lord more and more with the goal that all our thoughts, words and deeds might become sacrifices of praise to Him. We believe that we especially encounter our Triune and sovereign Lord in Called Worship, as we celebrate His person and work through prayer, the sacraments, and the reading and preaching of His infallible and inerrant Word.

Our Mission: God has left us on earth to carry the message of the Gospel to the world. We believe that there are only two things that people can do now that they cannot do in Glory. One is to sin (as there will be no sin in Glory) and the other is to share the Gospel with those who don’t yet know it (as everyone there will already know the Lord). We believe that God has left us here to introduce people to Jesus and to make them His disciples. We are therefore committed to doing the work of the evangelism and mission both here and abroad, through prayerful support and personal sacrifice of our time, resources, and active involvement in the work of Christ in our community.

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Why does the pastor wear a robe?

In our culture today, it seems odd that a pastor would wear a robe. After all, in most evangelical churches the minister simply wears a business suit. And more recently, it has become more common to find pastors who wear casual clothes in the worship service. There are several important reasons that a Reformed minister wears a robe.

It emphasizes the office of the pastor while de-emphasizing the person. A simple robe covers much of the person, helping to conceal that which distinguishes him as an individual. It reminds us that we lovingly submit ourselves, not so much to the man, but to the role he has been called to by God—that of pastor.
It is a reminder—both to the minister as well as to the congregation—that, when he preaches, the pastor brings to us the very Word of God, as opposed to the thoughts and opinions of one person. Scripture is God’s unique, unparalleled revelation of Himself to us. And God wants His people to know His Word, and the main way for people to hear & understand it is for someone to explain it to them (Rom. 1014-17). As He says in Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” The robe is a reminder that what is said and done in the leading of worship and in the preaching of the Word is serious, vital, important work.
It reminds us that the pastor is not a mere “CEO” figure. In American culture, a suit and tie is the “uniform” of business professionals, lawyers, etc. A robe de-emphasizes this sort of cultural “uniform” and reminds us that the pastoral office described in the Bible is in different from our society’s concept of a business leader.
It reminds us that we are clothed in Christ’s righteousness. The minister, wearing a piece of clothing that both covers over and is distinct from his own clothing, offers to us a symbol of how we approach God in worship, “clothed with Christ” (Galatians 3:27)—it is His righteousness that makes us acceptable to God.
Wearing robes is part of our heritage. It is part of our ancient Israelite heritage. The priests wore robes to distinguish their office (Exodus 28). It is also a part of our Reformed/Presbyterian heritage. From the time of John Calvin in the days of the Reformation, Presbyterian would don the academic robe of a Renaissance scholar (a black robe called the “Genevan robe”) to emphasize their credentials as someone who was studied and learned in the Scriptures. This was important during a time when the Roman Catholic Church would have accused the churches of the Reformation of being unbiblical or uneducated in their Christian expression.

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What do you call the table in front of the pulpit & why?

This table is the table from which the pastor and elders serve the Lord’s Supper. We call it the Communion Table. Many churches and denominations (such as the Roman Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans/Episcopals, Methodists, etc) refer to this table as “the altar,” but Reformed churches abandoned this nomenclature at the time of the Reformation. Why?
An altar is a table of sacrifice. In the Medieval Churches (today called Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox), the idea became common to think that during the Lord’s Supper (or “Mass”) the pastor (“priest”) was offering a sacrifice to God. At the risk of oversimplifying things, in the Latin West (in particular) this became a belief that the priest was actually re-sacrificing Christ. Looking to the Old Testament pattern, it was believed that every time someone sinned, there had to be a new atonement. As a result, it was believed that a new sacrifice had to be made on a daily basis in order that people might be forgiven.

But the great Scriptural breakthrough of Reformation was the wonderful Gospel truth that Jesus’ death & sacrificial atonement was a once-for-all event. As He said on the cross just before He died, “It is finished.” There remains no more need for any sacrifices for sin, for Jesus has made an end of all of our guilt and shame!

Instead of the idea of the Table being a place of sacrifice, in the Reformed tradition we understand that at the Lord’s Table we receive a sacrament, a memorial, a New Testament Passover, and a foretaste of the great Banquet at the End of Time when Jesus comes again. Thus, it is “the Lord’s Table,” where we dine with Him and He with us.

Why is the pulpit in the center of the chancel (i.e., “the stage”)?

Prior to the Reformation, the altar was at the center of the chancel. This emphasized the fact that the sacrifice of the mass was the heart of the service. But in a Reformed church, the pulpit is in the center of the chancel to remind us that the very center of all of Christian worship is the Word of God. The centerpiece and high point of the Protestant worship service is the reading and the preaching of the Word of God.

Why do the elders serve the elements when the church celebrates the Lord’s Supper? (And why do the elders serve the pastor the Lord’s Supper?)

In our understanding of the proper governance of the Church, we believe that the Lord governs His Church through a plurality of elders. He also shepherds, teaches, and leads His people in this same way. As a result, when we come to celebrate the sacraments (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper), it is not the pastor who administers them of his own authority, but rather the minister acts as a representative of the session as a whole who in turn represent the mind Christ to His people. Also, all elders- both “ruling” and “teaching” -share the same office of “presbyter.” But they only exercise their authority jointly. Thus, the elders act together to serve the Lord’s Supper to His people.

The reason the pastor does not serve himself is because all of us come to the Lord’s Table in the same manner—as beggars who have found the Bread of Life. The minister must be served just as he serves, for the only One who serves Himself at the Lord’s Table is the Lord Jesus Himself.

Why is a Reformed church sanctuary so Spartan?

The Spartan character of a Reformed or Presbyterian sanctuary is a tradition that goes back to the Reformation. At that time, most sanctuaries in Europe were heavily decorated with images and symbols that often distracted from the worship of God. As the Second Commandment forbids the use of idols or graven images that people might be tempted to worship in lieu of worshipping God, it was thought that unadorned worship—both visually and in the manner of singing—was the best way to avoid inadvertently distracting God’s people from the worship of the Lord.

As a result, Reformed sanctuaries, while often having Christian symbols such as crosses and other simple devices, as well as various decorations or even stained glass windows, are traditionally rather plain. As has been noted elsewhere in the Q&A sections, this is because of the primacy on the reading, preaching, and teaching of the Bible.

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Do you observe any kind of liturgical calendar? (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter…)

Yes we do. While we don’t slavishly adhere to the traditional “Church Calendar,” every year we celebrate several of the cardinal Christian holidays. Specifically, we observe:

Advent—The four weeks before Christmas in which we remember the Old Testament promises of the coming of Christ & the story of the Nativity. Each week we have a different reading, light a candle in the Advent Wreath, and sing Christmas hymns.
Caroling- It is our desire to go caroling at least once each year. We prefer to do so in conjunction with other evangelical churches in the area as we share the hope of Christ’s birth with Perrysburg!
Christmas Eve- Every year we have a special evening worship service in which we retell the Christmas Story through the reading of some of the key Old Testament prophecies, the Nativity story, and a whole lot of singing of Christmas carols.
Lent- The forty days leading up to Easter is a time of prayer and reflection on the reason why Jesus went to the cross to die—namely, our many sins. This is a time both to examine ourselves that we might remind ourselves how sinful we are as well as a time to rejoice that our God loves us enough that He would willingly choose to send his one and only Son to die that we might be forgiven and accepted.
Holy Week- The week before Easter is a time to remember the great love of Jesus for us as well as the awesome culmination of prophecy that climaxed in Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. One major aspect of this week’s celebration (aside from Palm Sunday and Easter, of course!) is Maundy Thursday. This is a special church fellowship dinner in which we walk through the Jewish Passover in order that we might see how Jesus fulfilled the hope of Passover in the Last Supper, and how he reinterpreted it to create the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

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How do you live out or emphasize your core values?

There are a variety of ways that we do this. Generally speaking, it is our desire that everything that we fits clearly into and advances one of these four categories. More specifically, we have arranged our monthly worship services such that one week each month somehow emphasizes one of the four core values.

Why do you say, “One holy catholic Church” in the creeds?

Many Protestant churches have decided to replace the original wording (“catholic”) with some other wording. Usually they say “one holy Christian church.” However, this fundamentally changes the meaning of the phrase as defined by the early ecumenical councils. He word “catholic” is a Latin word which means “universal.” After the Reformation the part of the church that was not reformed and which remained loyal to the Pope in Rome claimed to be the only true Church, and adopted the name “Roman Catholic Church.” However, we would assert that every church that can affirm the “ecumenical creeds” (the Apostles’, the Nicene, the Athanasian, etc) is a part of the “one, holy, universal Church.” It is not necessary to be a part of the Roman church in order to be a part of the catholic Church. (Note that we use a little “c.”) When we affirm that we believe in “one, holy, catholic Church,” we are affirming the same faith using the same creeds that have been used by Christians for at least 1800 years.

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Worship at Stonebridge

The Order or Worship:

In our service we follow an order that was more or less settled upon during the time of the Reformation, particularly as it came to be expressed in the Reformed family of churches. These are, for the most part, churches whose roots come down from the Protestant churches of Switzerland, France, Holland, England & Scotland. While various Presbyterian and Reformed churches flesh it out differently, the main elements are all there. What’s interesting is that these elements and this order of worship all have a Biblical & Gospel-focused reason for their existence. Much of what we do arises from Paul’s letters & from the patterns we see in the scenes of God’s throne room in Isaiah ch.6 & throughout the Book of Revelation.

At Stonebridge, here’s how it looks:

Announcements: Because every aspect of the called worship of God is supposed to be directly worshipful, we do all of these before the actual call to worship.
Prelude: The 4th Commandment states that on the Sabbath Day, or Lord’s Day, God’s people are to rest from their worldly affairs of the rest of the week in order to clear their minds of other distractions so as to focus on worship. In order to help us do this, we have a brief musical prelude to allow us to settle in, calm the children, and take a deep breath in order to prepare ourselves for the coming service.
Call to Worship: While some churches begin their service with an “invocation,” in Reformed churches we begin with a call to worship. The reason for this is subtle but important. To begin the service with an invocation implies that we are gathering together & then asking the Lord to come be with us. But the Good News is that just the reverse is the case. You see, the Gospel tells us that when we were far from God, He drew us to Himself through the death of Jesus on our behalf. The Holy Spirit then invites & commands God’s people to come into God’s presence to receive the Lord’s blessings. The Call to Worship reflects this truth, as the church session, in the name of the Lord, commands & invites God’s beloved people to come into His presence & worship Him.
Opening Song: We generally begin with an upbeat hymn of adoration & joy, as we respond to God’s gracious invitation to come before Him with thanksgiving.
Confession of Faith: Having come into His presence without fear, we recall why that is, namely because of the faith that He has given us. We do so in response to a question, usually along the lines of “Christian, what is it that you believe?” It is a question directed at each individual, because we must individually come to embrace the faith, but we reply corporately. This is because though we are saved individually, we are never saved alone, but rather are saved as one Body of Christ, the Church. The response to the question posed is usually (but not always) the Apostles’ or the Nicene Creed. These are statements of faith that all Christians hold in common. The Apostles’ Creed’s origins are uncertain, but it is generally accepted that it dates to the earliest days of the Church. The Nicene Creed in its present form was set by a council of the whole Church in AD 381.
Gloria Patri: This is an ancient & very brief song whose title means, “Glory be to the Father” in Latin. The whole text is: “Glory be to the Father, & to the Son, & to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, & ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.” We sing this at this point by way of giving glory to God for His great mercy in giving us new life in Christ, which is evidenced in the fact that He has caused us to believe the faith which we have just confessed.
1st Scripture Reading: Aside from the gift of His Son, we believe that the greatest gift he has given us is His Word. As a result, we generally have a reading here that will be used in the sermon, but not as the main text. Usually, if the sermon is from the New Testament, this will come from the Old Testament, and vice versa.
2nd Song: Again, we respond to the gift of the Word of God with praise.
Prayer of Confession: In the Book of Isaiah (as well in other places) we see that the typical response that people have when encountering God & His Word is to realize just how far from God we are by nature, & how often we fail to do what He requires & how often we do what He forbids. As a result, at this point we take a few moments to confess our sins to God.
But here’s the great thing: Because God has already forgiven all of our sins through the sacrifice of Jesus in our place, we don’t come to confess with fear or a sense that we’re pleading with God to forgive us. Rather, we come knowing that Christ has made an end of our sin, as He said on the cross, when He cried out, “It is finished,” just before He died. As John says in I John 1:8-9, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful & just to forgive us our sins, & cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
So we come into God’s presence confessing sins that have already been forgiven 2000 years ago on the cross! This gives us great confidence as we confess, because we are simply acknowledging what Jesus not only knows that we did, but that He has already died for!
Assurance of Pardon: Here we read a verse or two from Scripture to remind us that indeed we are forgiven & that God accepts us because of Christ.
3rd Song: Again, we respond to this great hope & sure forgiveness by praising the Lord in song.
Prayers of God’s People: Having been invited into God’s presence, having confessed both our faith & our sin, and having been assured that we are right with God through Christ, we now spend some time to pray. We pray, adoring & praising God for Who He is & for what He has done. We also pray, casting our needs, worries, hopes, & concerns at God’s feet, trusting His promise that He will do far more than we can ever ask or imagine. (And that a great promise because we can ask & imagine a lot!) Often we will conclude this time of prayer using the words of the Lord’s Prayer.
Tithes & Offerings: At this point we respond to God’s salvation & gracious provision by reminding ourselves of the fact that all that we are & have belongs to Him. We are merely stewards of His blessings. And so we collect the offering at this time. This offering is used to support the ministry of the church & to support missionaries at home & abroad.
Doxology: Like the Gloria Patri, this is again an ancient short song. We sing: “Praise God from whom all blessing flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, & Holy Ghost. Amen.”
But interestingly, we don’t just sing the Doxology to God! This may sound odd at first, but if you look carefully at the words, you’ll see that the opening line speaks praise to God (“Praise God from whom all blessings low”). But the next two have us summoning and singing to God’s creation, to call them to worship God as well. The Doxology, then, reminds us that when we worship, we join in with worshippers outside our walls whom we cannot see. Worshiping with us are all of creation and all of the heavenly host (see Psalm 8). In fact, when we are worshipping God, we are not just worshipping with the angels & the creation, we are leading them in worship. God so delights in the worship of His people!
We stand at the beginning of the Doxology out of respect & honor for the Lord.
2nd Scripture Reading: At this point the preacher will read the text that will be the basis of the sermon. We remain standing for the Scripture reading because we are the subjects of the Kingdom of Heaven, the people of the King of kings & Lord of lords. As such, it is appropriate for us to stand as the King’s Word is read.
The preacher generally begin the reading by reminding ourselves of this by prefacing the reading with the words, “This is the Word of the Lord,” and by concluding it with some of the words of the Prophet Isaiah, saying, “Thus far this reading of God’s Holy Word. The grass withers & the flowers fade, but the Word of our Lord endures forever.”
He says this to remind us that what we are reading is not merely the words or religious opinions of men in ancient times, but is indeed the very Word of God. As such, this Word (the Bible) is infallible (wholly trustworthy), inerrant (without error as originally penned), and will endure eternally.
Prayer of Dedication: This is a very brief prayer in which the preacher gives thanks both for the offering we made as well as for the Word, and then prays for the sermon.
Sermon: This is the place in the service where we hear the Good News about Jesus Christ! It is our conviction that all of Scripture is Good News when we rightly understand it. All of it, from the beginning of the Old Testament to the end of the New, is a unified witness to Jesus. As a result, it is our desire that every message at Stonebridge should point us to Christ & the hope that we have in Him.
In our tradition, the preaching of the Word of God is a very weighty and serious matter. One Reformed confession states that “the Word of God rightly preached is the Word of God.” It isn’t to be a matter of personal opinion or a time for the preacher to ride a hobby horse. Rather, it is a time for God’s people to hear what Scripture has to say. In the sermon, we come to learn about the Good News of Jesus Christ & discover what it means for us.
4th Song: We respond to God’s blessing of giving us His Word by again praising Him in song. Weeks when we do not have communion or a baptism, this is the final song.
Communion: Once a month we celebrate the sacrament of Communion. This sacrament is also sometimes known as the “Eucharist” (from a Greek word meaning “to give thanks”) or the “Lord’s Supper” (because it is a memorial of Jesus’ Last Supper). The name “Communion” refers to the fact that in this sacrament we commune with God as we celebrate it. All persons who have sincerely repented of their sins & entrusted their lives to Christ are welcome to celebrate the sacrament with us. We must remember that the sacrament is not for the righteous (people who think that they have it all together), but the unrighteous (people who see their sinfulness & trusted Jesus to forgive them). That’s the Good News after all—that Jesus came for people who are broken down, worn out, hurting, and far from God! It’s that kind of person that He wants to come to His Table, where He reminds us of His promise that He loves us, has forgiven us, & accepts us just as we are!
Baptism: Whenever we have a baptism, it comes at this point as well. (If a baptism is scheduled for a Communion Sunday, we will ordinarily postpone Communion to the next Sunday.)
Closing song: Once again we praise our great & loving God for all of His blessings to us. From beginning to end, our whole service is a time to celebrate Jesus Christ.
Benediction: Finally, just before the congregation is dismissed, the pastor pronounces a benediction upon the congregation. “Benediction” is a Latin term, meaning “a good word,” & is God’s verdict or promise to His people. As such, we don’t bow our heads or treat it as a prayer. Rather, as a promise or verdict, it is God’s blessing on his people.

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What Does It Mean to be Reformed?

The question of what it means to be Reformed is one that often arises. Is it essentially a theological term? Does it refer to some particular ecclesiastical methodology? Is it more of a worldview thing? Is it a codeword for being a Calvinist, or is it just another way of saying 'Presbyterian?'

At the most basic level, the goal of the Reformed faith is to be as consistent with the Bible as possible. What we call the Reformed faith has roots in Christianity that go back to the very earliest days of the Church. St. Augustine is often cited as being the first to systematically explain what we today call the cardinal points our view of Scripture. Over the centuries, the Christian church began to drift from the foundational truths that are contained in Scripture; replacing some with traditions and with the wisdom of men. A small number of Godly men began an effort to “reform” the church … to bring Her back to where God wanted Her to be all along! Beginning in the early 1500’s, a movement within the Western Christian Church began to grow that has been labeled “the Reformation”.

The central issue of the Reformation was this: On what basis are we saved from our sins? Who is it that saves us? Do we save ourselves? Do we work together with God to save ourselves? Does God wait for us to come to Him, and then help us along the way to reach a point of salvation? Can we lose our salvation? (Remember, if it is up to us, then this is a serious possibility!) What part does Jesus play in saving me, and what part (if any) do I play?

These questions and their answers led to a deep and fundamental split in the Western Christian Church. Those who fell on one side became known as the Reformers (out of which began to grow the various Protestant denominations). The others, who stayed with the Pope's views, form what we call today the Roman Catholic Church.

As the history of the Reformation unfolded, the leaders of that movement began to explore other questions and sought to think through and understand what God in the Bible has to say about other important and central themes of Christian knowledge such as: Who is God? Who is Christ? Who is man? What is man's problem? How did God in Christ resolve man's problem? How does Christ's work get applied to men and women? For whom did Christ die? What does God call His people to be? How shall we then live? These questions and others were addressed by these men in an attempt to explain to God's people (who had long been living in spiritual darkness in the Middle Ages) what the Bible actually said to them … and says to us as well!

The fruit of their work, along with the subsequent half-millennium of Bible study and reflection, is what we call the Reformed faith today.

So what are the nuts and bolts? If you had to boil all of the doctrines and positions of Reformed theology down to the nuts and bolts, a three-word sentence can define Reformed theology. Here they are:

God saves sinners.

That's it. All of the work of Calvin and Knox and Owen and all the rest can be boiled down to that.

So what does that mean?

Well, the way to look at this is to read it to yourself aloud, each time emphasizing one of the words. That is: "God saves sinners." "God saves sinners." "God saves sinners."

First, we believe that the Bible shows that from 1st to last the work of salvation is up to God. He is the one who began the work of creation in the Garden, and He is the one who began the work of Re-creation in Christ. As we will see in a moment, because of the fundamental problem that men, women, boys, and girls all have, there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. What's more, there is no reason why we would want to. And that is because deep down, we like our sins and we want to hold on to them.

But, because of the great love of God for us (why He loves us no one knows!), He sent His one and only Son, the man Jesus Christ, to be born like one of us, to die in the place of His people, and to rise again from the dead to prove that He had been victorious. As Jesus said as He died on that cross in Jerusalem, "It is finished" (Jn. 19:30). The work was done.

Now, that work was completed around the year 30 AD. This means that Jesus said, "It is finished," before you or I was ever born. Almost 2000 years ago He did it, once and for all, so that we could be sure that God had done it, and that there was nothing else left to do for us to fret over.

Second, we believe that the Bible reveals that God actually saves people, and that He saves them all the way. Some people think that God just made salvation possible for everybody while actually saving no one. They think that God made a way for us to be saved, but that you have to do the last little bit to bridge the gap that He left open—as though He did 99.99% of the work, and you just have to do the last 0.01% yourself. Usually people of this persuasion say that the 0.01% is your decision for God.

But the problem with that is that, as we saw above, Jesus said, "It is finished." He did it. He actually saved people when He died for them! Now, some will pick at this and point out the bad news, saying that if He actually saved people, and not everyone is saved, then He didn’t save some. They will often then point out that this seems awfully neglectful or mean-spirited … or just plain unfair.

But this is actually Good News! And it is so because of this fact: if it is up to you or me, even a little bit, even 0.01%—heck, even 0.000000001%—then we will blow it. Plain and simple: we will blow it. So, if Jesus actually saved us, then we have just been told really good news, because He has done what we could never do!

Third, we believe that the Scriptures teach that God saves sinful people who can in no way save themselves. Jesus said that a tree yields fruit according to its nature (Matthew 7:17-20). A good tree gives good fruit, and an evil tree gives evil fruit. Similarly, we sin because we are sinners. We do the things that people like us do: we sin. And the Apostle Paul said that we sin because we are spiritually dead. Like the stench that a corpse gives off, we sin because we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-2).

And because we are dead in our sins, we can't do anything to make ourselves better. A dead man can't heal himself of what caused his death, nor can he raise himself back up to life. If either of those things is to happen, someone else has to do it for him. And that is what Jesus does for us. He is both God and the Son of God. And God saves sinners! (For further study, we suggest spending some time reading Romans chapters 1-3 and Ephesians chapters 1-2.)

How would we elaborate on that? If that's the nuts and bolts, then where would we go for a more detailed explanation of what Reformed theology is? Well, there are two good places to go. 1st …

T U L I P

This memory device was 1st used in the Netherlands … hence the flower reference! The five principles of salvation (from the Reformed perspective) that they represent were actually written in response to five similar points originally taught and advocated by a man named James Hermann (in Latin: Jacob Arminius) later on in the Reformation. They conflicted with what the Reformers had come to understand from Scripture, so learned men gathered at the Synod of Dort and prepared a response.

Arminius was teaching that :

Man isn't essentially sinful and bad, but is essentially neutral, capable of doing good or bad at any time.
God chooses us to be his because He sees something good and desirable in us.
Jesus dies on the cross for all men and women without exception, except for this one: He only died to bring us so far. We have to do the rest.
God's grace is completely resistible. He earnestly hopes that men and women will come to Him, but essentially all He does is hope and wait. And, once someone becomes a Christian, he or she can resist God's love and Spirit at any point.
As a result of this, there is no sense of security in our relationship with God. We can only remain in His good graces by working hard and by being good. Otherwise we will be lost and go to Hell.

Comparing these teachings to the “nuts and bolts”, we can easily see how far from the Reformation (Scriptural) understanding this was. So the leaders of the Dutch church gathered (at the Synod of Dordt) and stated five points that corrected Arminius’ teachings in these areas with "The Five Points," or (usually negatively) "The Five Points of Calvinism." (Although Calvin didn’t write them!) The five letters represent five terms used at that time; 1)Total Depravity; 2) Unconditional Election; 3) Limited Atonement; 4) Irresistible Grace; and 5) Perseverance of the Saints.

Unfortunately, the modern English language has changed enough that these terms are often more confusing to us than they are helpful … so we’ll set aside the terms and simply explain the concepts. Also, to help see an example of where these ideas come from in the Bible, we will give a reference to Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Here goes:

T) I am more sinful than I could ever imagine, being sinful from my mother's womb and corrupt in my thoughts, words, and actions. (Eph. 2:1-3)
U) But God has loved me from the beginning of the world, and he has loved me for nothing good in me, but just because He wanted to. (Eph. 1:3-6)
L) Because of His great love for me (even me personally), the Father sent His only Son Jesus to die for me. He lay down His life and was punished on the cross by the Father for each and every sin that I (and each and every one of those whom the Father has chosen) have ever or will ever commit. (Eph. 1:7-10, 2:4-6, 8-10)
I) Having died for me, this same Jesus has now risen from the dead and sits enthroned in Heaven as Lord of lords and King of kings. As such, He directs the whole course of history and bends the heavens themselves if need be to prove His love and grace to His people so that each of those for whom He died will come to be His, and will grow in His love and grace through their lives. (Eph.1:11-14, 2:7-8, 10)
P) And now, having died for us and having determined to prove His love for us, the Holy Spirit now lives in our hearts and will never leave us nor forsake us, for He is the Covenant Lord, the God who promises and who always delivers on His promises. (Eph. 1:13-14, 15-23)

This should help us to see a bit more clearly what it means to be Reformed. And just to reassure you, the three chapters on Romans and the two in Ephesians aren't the only places we see these things taught. They are just a couple of really good places to start looking at these things.

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The Westminster Standards

The 2nd place to go for a more in-depth explanation of the Reformed faith is what we call the Westminster Standards. These are: The Westminster Confession of Faith, The Westminster Larger Catechism, and The Westminster Shorter Catechism. Along with The Essentials of Our Faith, these three documents are the teaching standard for our denomination, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

These Standards are the result of something called the Westminster Assembly of 1640-1642. This assembly was called by the Parliament of England to write a document that could serve as the official teaching position of the churches in the British Isles. After a great deal of study, discussion, prayer, and work, the Westminster Assembly produced these three documents.

The first, the Confession of Faith, is a short explanation of a number of key Christian doctrines such as the nature of Scripture, who God is, what place good works have in the Christian life, what God's Church is supposed to look like, what the sacraments are all about, and so on.

The other two are catechisms. That means that they are each a series of questions and answers that are meant to be memorized. The Apostle Peter in I Peter 3:16 says, "always be ready to give… a reason for the hope that is in you." So the Assembly wrote these so that the Christians in the British Isles would have answers for common questions about their faith. The reason that there are two (the Larger and the Shorter) is because one was originally written for children (the Shorter), and one for adults (the Larger). However, nowadays people don’t memorize things like they used to, and so mostly today we memorize just the Shorter Catechism. (Believe it or not, it used to be the case in the Old Testament days that young men had all five of the books of Moses memorized by their 13th birthday! That is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy!)

The content of the catechisms follows this pattern: Who is God? What is wrong with mankind? What was God's solution? How does Jesus save us? What must we then do? What are the Sacraments? What are the 10 Commandments, and what do they teach us? What is the Lord's Prayer, and what does it teach us?

Together, the Westminster Standards give us a wonderful summary of basic Christian teachings, and help us to always be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have within us!

Is this all that it means to be Reformed?

Actually, to be Reformed goes far beyond these basics, encompassing a distinctive understanding of who and what the Church is, how one should think about culture and the arts, and a whole host of things.

As we said at the first, to be Reformed means that we try to be as consistent with the Bible as possible. That is, we want to know what God says in the Bible, we want to believe what God says in the Bible, and we want to do what God says in the Bible. The hope and goal of our faith is that we will learn God's ways. We long to think God's thoughts after Him. We long to do the works that He did (healing, loving others as ourselves, praying for others, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and so on). And we long to speak His message (the Gospel—literally, “the Good News”—about Jesus Christ) to the world around us as clearly and winsomely as we can.

It is sometimes said that the goal of the Reformed faith is to have a truly Biblical World and Life View. That is, we want to see the world and our lives within it in as Scripturally a way as possible.

In summary, at the end of the day our goal isn’t to 'be Reformed,' but to be Biblical. We want to be faithful to our Lord with everything in us—heart, mind, soul, and strength.

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What does it mean to be Presbyterian?

The name “Presbyterian” is a reference to our form of government, which we believe is clearly found in Scripture. In essence, to be Presbyterian in government means that our churches are governed by elders (Greek: “presbyter”), which includes both lay elders (“Ruling Elders”) and pastors/ministers (“Teaching Elders”). At the local level, the body of elders is called the “Session,” and has responsibility to oversee the affairs of the congregation, to provide prayerful pastoral care for the members, and to provide Biblical teaching and preaching.

A Presbyterian church also has deacons (Greek: “diakonos”, meaning servant). If the elders are responsible for the ‘spiritual’ care of the church, the deacons are responsible for its ‘physical’ care. But this is not to say that the office of deacon is not spiritual, far from it. The deacons are to lead in service, in mercy ministries, and in care and concern for the people’s needs. Between the offices of elder and deacon, God provides leadership for the church to both show the Gospel (through service) and to tell it (through teaching, preaching, and the ministry of prayer).

But being Presbyterian means more than just that. A Presbyterian church is also what is called “connectional.” This means that we believe that our ‘church’ is more than just our local congregation, but includes all of the congregations we are connected to in our denomination, who are responsible for us even as we are responsible for them. We hold that all of the various congregations should be united together for ministry, mission, fellowship, and mutual care and accountability. Though this is a far cry from Jesus’ prayer in John ch.17 that all of His people and congregations in the entire world would be one, we are thankful for the reflection, limited as it is, of that unity that we find in connectionalism.

At the regional level, this connectionalism is called the “Presbytery.” The Presbytery consists of all of the churches in a given region, which are represented by all of the ministers in its region as well as two lay elders for each minister. The Presbytery is responsible for the oversight of the churches in its area, for pastoral care of pastors, for church planting, and for ordaining new pastors, among other duties. Our Presbytery (that of the Midwest, encompassing Michigan, Ohio, & Indiana) generally meets five times a year, each time at a different host church.

At the national level, this connectionalism is called the “General Assembly,” or “GA.” Like the Presbytery, the GA consists of all of the churches in its bounds (the United States), which are represented by all of the ministers in the denomination, as well as two lay elders for every minister. It is responsible for overseeing the ministries of the various Presbyteries, for sending missionaries at home and overseas, for assisting Presbyteries with church planting, for providing a benefits program, and a variety of other functions. Again, like the Presbytery, the Assembly meets once annually, each year at a different host church.

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What is the EPC motto, & what does it mean?

The Motto of the EPC is “In Essentials, Unity; In Non-Essentials, Liberty; In All Things, Charity; Truth In Love.” It comes from St. Augustine of Hippo (d. AD430), who was the bishop of a city in what is now Algeria.

Functionally, the way the motto works out in the EPC is a sort of three-tiered approach to theological issues. These may be thought of as "A," "B," & "C" issues.

"A" issues are those which have to do with the "Essentials of Our Faith." This is a summary of those issues which are foundational to Christian faith. In the EPC, there is no allowance for disagreement among church officers (ministers, elders, & deacons) on these issues. Indeed, it is expected that all members will affirm these fundamental tenets of the faith.

In other words, these issues are considered essential for all Christians.

"B" issues are those issues which are essential to the Reformed understanding of the faith, such as the so-called "Five Points" (or “TULIP”), Covenant Theology, Presbyterian government, etc. The definition of "B" issues for the EPC is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith & in the Larger & Shorter Catechisms. As these issues aren't as foundational as the Essentials of Our Faith, the EPC allows ministers, elders, & deacons to state exceptions to the Westminster Standards, so long as these exceptions do not violate the system of doctrine contained therein. It is understood that the teaching position of the EPC is found in the Westminster Standards.

In other words, these issues are considered essential for church leaders.

Finally, "C" issues are those that, while important to many of us, are not the sine qua non of denominational unity, but are things over which orthodox, Reformed Christians can disagree, & which do not violate the system of doctrine of the EPC.

In other words, these issues are considered important, but not essential to Christian unity.

Perhaps the greatest aspect of our denomination is summarized in this motto, for it reflects the spirit of the denomination—we are serious about what we believe, but not in such a way as to get upset over the smaller things. Rather, in a spirit of humility & love, we seek to be faithful to Scripture as we seek to do what Jesus calls us to do.

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