Our Beliefs
Covenant Fellowship church is part of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP). We can be identified by the following features that have marked our commitments since our beginning in the early 1990's.
Reliance Upon God’s Word
We believe that God creates, sustains and perfects His people by His Word and Spirit. 2Timothy 3:16-17 tells us "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." (ESV) Our foremost commitment is to receive from God what He alone can give through His Word and Spirit. This is why our Sunday morning worship revolves around proclaiming the Word of God, praising God out of and for His Word, and praying in keeping with His Word. We believe that the Old and New Testament are the only word from the only living and true God, and the means that God's Spirit uses to cause us to live obediently to God (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matt. 4:4)
Covenantal
The Church of the Lord Jesus is in covenant (a love-life bond) with God so that God is fruitful, mutiplying, filling the earth with His people and subduing the earth to himself. God's covenant places a premium on relationships, with the biological family central to all human relationships. As a family, the Church has spiritual elders who rule over it nurturing and governing her life. God gave husbands and fathers the primary responsibility to bless and lead the family. Jesus, using family language, said that those who obey his Father are his family members (Matt. 12:50). We believe it is the duty and privilege of particular men among us to bless and lead the congregation. They do this by leading in corporate worship, our weekly small group meetings, praying for and with church members, and spiritually nurturing their own family. Because we believe that all God's people have obligations to one another, we remain together as a family in most of what we do. When we gather together, whether it is Sunday morning for worship and lunch (which we eat together every Sunday), or during the week for our small groups, the various generations and genders are together so that they might give and receive what they need from each other. We still have women's and men's groups, but our primary stress is on a family model of ministry.
Worship
The first commandment instructs us to worship God alone. The second commandment instructs to worship God only in the way he prescribes. While there are a number of elements permissible in worship such as preaching, prayers, singing, participating in the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, giving of offerings, and taking vows, we believe that all of these are to be done in a way that glorifies God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In other words, the focus in our worship of God is God and what he has done to accomplish salvation and apply it by his Word and Spirit. Currently we use primarily the piano and guitar, but will sometimes sing a capella. We also sing a variety of songs that extend virtually over the entire history of God's people--even to the Old Testament era, because we sing some songs right from the book of Psalms. Still, we also sing others that have been written in the 21st century. God is the Lord of history and his people have worshiped him throughout. We seek to express our union with God and his people in the entirety of our worship.
Small Groups
In order to fulfill our duties to each other we gather together in smaller groups during the week in various members homes. These groups are a time of prayer, singing, discussing, encouraging and eating. In these groups children and youth are with the older adults. The children and youth are full participants with the adults in these groups. Discussion normally revolves around the sermon from the previous week. Since we are a church governed by elders, each group is led by at least one elder. Such settings allow us to get to know each other better and to participate with each other in maturing in our obedience to God in all the details of our lives.
Denominationally Accountable
As a particular congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ we recognize our union and duty to other Christians throughout the world. We are part of a larger body of churches that comprise the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP). Our affiliation with the ARP identifies us as part of a group of Christians that has its roots in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, and its developments in Scotland. Ultimately, though, we are a continuance of the work of Jesus through his apostles. Through our prayers, finances and participation in regional, national and international ministries we support the work of the ARP church throughout the United States and around the world.
Fiscally Sound
We are stewards of everything we have because God is the source of all we have. We are therefore responsible to God to use all we have in way that glorifies him and accomplishes his will. While it is not always easy to discern what that means in terms of how we use our resources, we believe it begins by us asking the question: What is necessary for us to have and do in order to fulfill his purpose for us? Over our 17 years of existence part of the answer to that question has been our declining to build our own building or to purchase one. As a result we have no financial debt and are able to exercise a measure of financial freedom for ministries that a congregation of our size normally cannot exercise.
We meet Sunday mornings at the Bur-Mil Park Clubhouse at 10:15 for worship and then lunch. If you are interested in joining us or simply want more information about us and what we believe and do, please give our pastor Dr. David Smith a call (336-420-2783).