We Believe This Church is God’s House
… and all are welcome
We take these words seriously and strive to be a community as diverse and hospitable as God’s Kingdom. We don’t all look alike, act alike, or think alike. We may not read the Bible in the same way. We ask different questions. We carry different burdens. But every Sunday, we come together — virtually and in-person — to reaffirm our beliefs and to worship together as one corporate body.
Our Beliefs
As Presbyterians, our beliefs are important because they influence the way we live and love. FPC – Burlington is a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), through which you may view more detailed information on what we believe.
The following, from our Book of Confessions, is an overview of what we hold to be true:
In life and death, we belong to God.
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
we trust in one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
whom alone we worship.
GOD’S FORGIVING AND GRACIOUS LOVE IS POURED OUT FOR ALL…
God is like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,
like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home.
A Brief Statement of Faith (1983)
JESUS SHARES OUR HUMAN NEEDS, JOYS, AND SORROWS…
We believe that in Jesus of Nazareth,
true humanity was realized once for all.
Jesus, a Palestinian Jew, lived among his own people
and shared human needs, temptations, joys, and sorrows.
He expressed the love of God in word and deed
and became a brother to all kinds of sinful people.
In giving himself for them,
he took upon himself the judgment under which all people stand convicted.
We believe that God raised him from the dead,
vindicating him as Messiah and Lord.
The victim of sin became the victor,
and won the victory over sin and death for all.
Confession of 1967
THE SPIRIT GIVES US COURAGE…
In a broken and fearful world
the Spirit give us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in Church and culture,
to hear the voices of people long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
A Brief Statement of Faith (1983)
THE CHURCH’S WORK IN THE WORLD IS TO OVERCOME SEPARATION, ENMITY, AND HATRED…
We believe…
*That Christ’s work of reconciliation is made manifest in the church as the community of believers who have been reconciled with God and with one another;
*That this unity must become visible so that the world may believe that separation, enmity and hatred between people and groups is sin which Christ has already conquered, and accordingly that anything which threatens this unity may have no place in the church and must be resisted.
Confession of Belhar (1986)