What We Believe
We are a Christian Church that believes in the Bible. We hold fast to "the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). We confess and believe all that is taught in the Old and New Testaments, which are the inspired and infallible word of God. We summarize Scriptural teaching regarding the Holy Trinity and Christ in the great ecumenical creeds of the ancient church: Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed, Definition of Chalcedon The Three Forms of Unity summarize what we believe. They are firmly grounded on the teaching of Holy Scripture. These confessions are common to many Reformed churches that originated in Europe. The Three Forms of Unity are comprised of the Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and Canons of Dort.
We also believe the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms, are faithful summaries of biblical doctrine.
What We Confess
We confess the Three Forms of Unity:
Guido de Brès, the main author of this confession, died as a martyr in 1567. He wrote it, in the face of fierce persecution by the Roman Catholic government, to prove that the protestants were law-abiding citizens who held to the truth of Holy Scripture. The Synod of Dort (1618-1619) revised the text and adopted it as one of the doctrinal standards of the Reformed Church.
Elector Fredrick III, a pious Christian prince (1559 - 1576) commissioned Zacharius Ursinus (a young theology professor)and Caspar Olevianus (his court preacher) to write a catechism to help pastors and teachers instruct young people in the faith. Later it was divided into fifty-two sections: one section for each Sunday of the year. The sixteenth century National Synods included it as one of the Three Forms of Unity to the taught in the churches and that their office-bearers had to subscribe to.
The Synod of Dort drafted these articles (1618-1619) in response to Arminius, a theology professor from the University of Leyden , who departed the Reformed faith on five essential doctrines. The Canons of Dort exposes these errors and expounds the Reformed doctine on each topic.