Our Name

Covenant

The first word in our name is simply what the Bible is all about- the Covenant of Grace, which Christ ratified by His own blood (Luke 22:20).

Reformed

As Reformed Christians, we embrace the Five Sola’s of the Protestant Reformation: The Bible Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Christ Alone, to God alone be the Glory.

Church

We believe that this is still the practice of the Church today. We do not believe that the Lord Jesus ever wanted every congregation to go its own way and fend for itself, but rather, each church is to be TRULY accountable to other churches, not in a hierarchical sense, but in a sense of mutual accountability.

 

The Three Marks of a True Church

As a true church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we practice the three marks of any true church:

  1. The right preaching and teaching of the Word (not opinions);
  2. The right administration of the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper;
  3. Biblical Church discipline, according to Matthew 18:15-18 and 1 Corinthians 5:1-13.

Our God-given rule of Worship

We embrace the “Regulative Principle of Worship”, which simply states that God has, in His Word, defined how He desires to be worshipped. Every time the worship of God was changed or added to in Scripture, God rejected the worship itself! (Leviticus 10:1-3). Therefore, we reject innovations in worship or additional elements to worship that come from the desires of people, and strive to keep our worship simple, non-showy, and directed toward God and aimed at His pleasure. We also desire to keep the conscience of the Christian free from man-made restrictions, which seek to limit what God allows in Scripture. If you’re looking for a flashy church with entertaining worship, we’re not it! If you’re looking for a church that does everything for the glory of Christ, gets excited about the simplicity of the gospel, and believes that CHRIST IS ENOUGH, you’ll feel at home at Covenant!

Here’s an article about the Regulative Principle: thirdmill.org.

Our Denomination

The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church was formed from the Church of Scotland in the 1730’s and 1740’s, under times of fierce persecution against Bible believing Presbyterians. In 1803 on this continent, members from the Associate Presbytery and Reformed Presbytery in Scotland formed our denomination in America. You can find out more about our denomination here. We have fraternal relations with Presbyterian Churches through NAPARC on this continent, and also around the world as a members of Wold Reformed Fellowship World Reformed Fellowship. Besides being a presence in America, we also have a Synod in Pakistan and Mexico.

Our Confessional Standards

Today, almost every Christian will say that they believe the Bible. However, major disagreements often arise even among those who make such a claim. We embrace the Westminster Confession of Faith as a true and accurate interpretation of what the Bible teaches. We do not believe this confession to be inerrant (only the Scriptures are!) but we do find it to be useful in settling controversies. In short, we confess the Trinity (one God, eternally existent in three distinct Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit); the Full Deity and Humanity of Jesus Christ, and Salvation through faith in Christ alone.

You can read our Confession here.