What We Believe
Fellowship Church stands in unity with historic orthodox Christian belief. There are many ways to describe and organize beliefs and positions. For us, it is especially important to express what we consider essential or primary doctrinal positions. Primary doctrinal issues are the kinds of beliefs about which we must agree as Christians. There are many issues about which Christians can, and should, take a position on, but many of those convictions are outside the essential core set of Christian beliefs and are not worth dividing over. Christians are able to maintain unity with one another even if they disagree on those secondary issues. That doesn’t mean that the secondary issues are not important; it just means that our unity with one another is more important than our disagreement on those questions.
For many centuries the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed have served as unifying statements of Christian belief. They don’t have the authority of Scripture, but they are faithful expressions of what Christians believe about many essential issues. Every Christian should be able to affirm these creeds as part of a foundation for unity in Christian doctrine. Fellowship Church affirms these creeds.
The Apostles’ Creed is the oldest creed of the church and it is a foundation on which the other creeds were built. It was originally written in the middle of the second century through the consensus of the early church leaders. The Nicene Creed was written during the fourth century by another representative gathering of church leaders who were responding to false beliefs that threatened the teaching of the Church.
Together, these creeds affirm many of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, including:
• There is one God who is the creator of everything else that exists.
• God exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Jesus Christ, the unique Son of God, is Lord.
• Jesus is equal in divinity and perfection with the Father; everything was created through him.
• Jesus became an actual human being in his incarnation.
• Jesus was conceived miraculously by the Spirit in the womb of Mary who was a virgin.
• Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day for our salvation. He ascended to the Father.
• Jesus will come again to judge the world.
• There is one, universal church that unites believers of the past and present.
• Jesus’s death and resurrection guarantee the forgiveness of our sins and the eventual resurrection of our bodies to eternal life with God.
• The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and rightly proclaims the identity and work of Jesus, even in Old Testament.
• God gives baptism to the church as a symbol of our forgiveness.
• God is bringing his eternal kingdom to this world.
• The Holy Spirit is equal in divinity and worship-worthiness with the Father and the Son.
This is not an exhaustive list of our beliefs. We have positions on many other issues as well. It is impossible to have a comprehensive list of beliefs, but we will share position papers on other topics along the way. In the meantime, we’re happy to respond to inquiries about any particular topic.
Often, how we hold a belief is nearly as important as what we believe. Fellowship Church aims to model graciousness and humility even as we hold unwaveringly to the faith that we have inherited from the prophets and apostles, and ultimately from Christ himself.
Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian* church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
*The ancient Latin sources read “catholic,” which means “universal.”
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried
on the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy Christian* and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.