Avery Joins the Evangelical Presbyterian Church
In fall of 2016, Avery Presbyterian Church officially joined the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). The EPC is a movement of congregations that takes seriously the Bible, the theology of the historic confessions of the faith and the evangelical fervor of the founders of American Presbyterianism. The EPC envisions local churches to be evangelical and Presbyterian; hence its name.
Avery and the EPC affirm that the Bible is God’s inspired and infallible Word and that it contains eternal truth that speaks with authority to our life, doctrine and Mission (2 Timothy 3:16)
The constitution of the EPC consists of the Westminster Confession of Faith (including the Larger and Shorter Catechisms), the “Essentials of Faith” and the Book of Order (comprised of The Book of Government, The Book of Discipline and the Book of Worship). Of these, the EPC has one confessional standard: The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. All these documents are subordinate to Scripture, which is “the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks.”
What We Believe
1. We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To Him be all honor, glory and praise forever!
2. Jesus Christ, the living Word, became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. He who is true God became true man united in one Person forever. He died on the cross a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. On the third day He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He now is our High Priest and Mediator.
3. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to our hearts. He convicts us of sin and draws us to the Savior, indwelling our hearts. He gives new life to us, empowers and imparts gifts to us for service. He instructs and guides us into all truth, and seals us for the day of redemption.
4. Being estranged from God and condemned by our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God’s free grace. God credits His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justifies them in His sight. Only such as are born of the Holy Spirit and receive Jesus Christ become children of God and heirs of eternal life.
5. The true Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ. The Church finds her visible yet imperfect expression in local congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered in their integrity, where scriptural discipline is practiced, and where loving fellowship is maintained. For her perfecting she awaits the return of her Lord.
6. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth personally, visibly, and bodily—to judge the living and the dead, and to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
7. The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers to proclaim the gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of all nations. Obedience to the Great Commission requires total commitment to “Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.” He calls us to a life of self-denying love and service. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
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