More Beliefs
Instead of making you scroll through one large page, we thought it’d be good to categorize 3 areas of belief:
You can be assured that BCC is not some weird cult. Did you know, at last count, there are around 38,000 Christian denominations? If the counter is doing their job right, then every one of these churches should hold these beliefs in common.
This page will give you a feel for our personality, and the things we love to emphasize.
More Beliefs
We recognized that you may want to know even more about our thinking and practice. This page covers topics that we may not even agree on within BCC, but are nonetheless tools for growth, humility, and loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.
You may have picked up on the fact that our theological leanings are Reformed, or Calvinistic. In pointing out the importance of the doctrine of total depravity on the common beliefs page, we don’t mean to imply that a non-Calvinistic (or, Arminian) view places a church outside of Christianity. We only mention it in this category because it is consistent with the essential belief that the cross of Christ is absolutely necessary, and the only means by which we are saved. Those who do not hold to the doctrine of total depravity are not then outside of Christianity; but they are inconsistent with biblical grace and open the door to thinking that diminishes man’s desperate need for the cross of Christ.
Where does BCC stand on non-essential doctrines and areas of preference that concern: church government, baptism, eschatology (end-times), old-Earth vs. young Earth, schooling choices, or style of worship? There is more agreement in some areas than in others, but mostly we want to encourage: humility, love for one another, a primary focus on the gospel, and a realization that we are a family made up of different backgrounds, preferences, and convictions. What better atmosphere to learn and practice the love and humble service of Christ?
We are more convinced in some areas than in others, there is a variety in our practice, but ultimately we have an approach of being submitted to what we believe God’s Word teaches. If we are convinced by God’s Word that a current belief is wrong, then we will humbly submit to the authority of Scripture. We are unbending on essential beliefs, firm on some non-essentials, and more flexible on others. So, here are a few specifics:
Church Government
We believe a church should be led by a plurality of elders who meet the biblical qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and 1 Peter 5:1-4. We also believe there is a biblical role of deacons who have a position of authority, are under the leadership of the elders, and who enable the elders to concentrate on teaching and prayer by leading in service to the church, and the community. Deacons lead in service both by example and in encouraging and training the rest of the church to serve with their God-given gifts. Their biblical qualifications are found in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. With both elders and deacons the biblical qualifications are primary in their calling, with a part of this process involving their being presented to the church body, as candidates, for their agreement.
Baptism
We agree that all Christians are to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that it is not something that saves anyone, but is a sign and seal of our identification with Christ. We believe baptism (communion being the other) is one of two sacraments instituted by Christ for His church.
Where we are not in full agreement is in the mode of baptism, and concerning infants. Though we reject infant baptism as a means of salvation, we are sympathetic to a Reformed view on infant baptism as a sign and seal of faith, and the benefits thus available to them in a NT covenant community. This would be similar to circumcision’s use in an Old Testament covenant community – not saving, but a sign of their acceptance into that covenant community. We have practiced infant baptism in this regard – as a sign of their parent’s faith and thus their acceptance into a covenant community where they are exposed to the blessings that come by faith, or the curses in rejecting the faith of their parents and church family.
We also practice believer baptism – recognizing that baptism for one who has faith in Christ is a sign and seal of their new identity in Christ. This is where we currently are as a body of believers, and instead of dividing over a non-essential we encourage humility and love in the midst of our differences.
Eschatology
Now here’s a subject that has the ability to divide; yet God has been gracious to us in that we enjoy fellowship in a mix of views. So far there has been little emphasis on the specific millennial views, or the rapture. Where we do agree is in our view that Jesus is coming again. We don’t hold to a dispensational view, yet there are brothers and sisters in the church that do. The elders tend toward an amillennial view (for an accurate description we'd recommend "A Case for Amillennialism" by Kim Riddlebarger), yet we enjoy fellowship as those who hold to different end-times views.
Creation
Yes, God is the Creator of everything. We don’t believe in evolution, and we tend toward a young Earth view, but again, this is not a matter of our Christian unity, and there are brothers and sisters in the church who believe the Earth is older.
Schooling Choices
We may have a reputation of being a home school church, but we’re not. Many of us do home school our kids, and though we recognize some of the benefits, we also agree that our primary calling as parents is to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord … and this can be done at home, in private schools, and in public schools. We’re all different, our kids are different, and biblical wisdom in parenting can apply to a variety of schooling choices. People can be threatened when we differ in these choices (as if it’s a judgment against those who do something else), but when our identity is in Christ alone (and not our schooling choice, or any other personal preference) we are able to truly love instead of be threatened by one another, or judge one another.
Worship
True worship is in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Worship is not being emotionally moved apart from biblical truth, nor is it biblical truth without a spiritual connection to God. There is a general worship that applies to our lives (Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 10:31), and yet we are told not to forsake assembling together - with the implication of worship (Hebrews 10:23-25). We encourage both worshiping with our lives, and the importance of our corporate worship. The elements of spirit and truth cause us to love doctrinally rich hymns, and yet we are more contemporary in our style and also enjoy some modern choruses. Worship is another area where churches are tempted to put musical preference above love and community. Since we meet in a gym, and don’t have a large pipe organ, we tend toward guitars, keyboards, drums, and a more contemporary style of music, but we view right theology in the lyrics as being critical because worship is an expression of God’s worth.
“True worship occurs only when that part of human beings, their spirit, which is akin to the divine nature (God is spirit), actually meets with God and finds itself praising him for his love, wisdom, beauty, truth, holiness, compassion, mercy, grace, power and other attributes.” – James M. Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, pg. 591
We hope this gives you an idea of both our beliefs and our personality: that we love theology, that who we are and what we do is a result of our beliefs, and that we believe the church is unbreakable on the essentials and should be more flexible in other matters – all for the sake of God being glorified in and through His church.