Beliefs

In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.      -St. Augustine of Hippo

Beale Memorial believes that the authority for faith and practice is God’s word, the Bible.  With that said, we realize that faith is best understood as a conversation and a journey, not as a set of rigid beliefs.  Each person brings their own experience, reason, and understanding of Christian tradition to the table when it comes to matters of belief.  Not everyone at Beale Memorial believes the same thing about some things, but on the big ideas there is agreement.  St. Augustine said that this regarding Christians, and matters of belief: “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.“  We agree.  Beale Memorial is a diverse congregation made up of people from different family and faith backgrounds, political parties, and socio-economic levels.  All are welcome here.

We Believe:

God is eternally existent as Father, Son and Holy Spirit; is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer; and is worthy of all our praise and devotion.

The Bible is God’s holy, sacred, and divinely inspired word.

Humanity is created in God’s image, and in need of God’s grace because of Sin.

Salvation is redemption of the whole person, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Church is the body of Christ in the world today. As such the church is God’s hands and feet in our community, God’s only plan for the furtherance of the Good News of Christ, and the gathered worshiping community of believers.

The Lord’s Day is a day of worship, spiritual devotion, and sabbath rest. Christians should take seriously the Sabbath, as it is built by God into the rhythm of creation itself. When we observe regular Sabbath and worship, we are doing what God designed us to to.

Communion is a symbolic reenactment of Christ’s saving acts on the Cross, and a tactile means of realizing God’s grace more fully.

Baptism is immersion of a believer in water, and an act of obedience in following Christ, symbolizing the believer’s death to sin and their commitment to walk in newness of life in Christ.

Eternity is how long those who accept Christ will live and reign with God in a real Heaven, and how long those who reject Christ will be separated from God through the fires of a real Hell.

Evangelism and Mission is the privilege and duty of every follower of Christ, as we endeavor to make disciples of all nations.

Religious Liberty is the best guarantee of free church in a free state. God alone is the Lord of the conscience.

Cooperation and Autonomy is important for local churches in accomplishing God’s mission for the world. Beale may cooperate with a number of organizations or groups, but as an autonomous New Testament church, such organizations have no authority over our church, or the conscience of our people.

A confessional statement called the Baptist Faith and Message of 1963 summarizes our church’s beliefs about many things.  This statement is a summary of beliefs that a particular group of Baptists affirmed at a particular point in history, and is a product of the time in which it was written and the language is dated in some cases.  If you have any specific questions about what BMBC believes, please feel free to contact our pastor.