ABOUT
FLUVANNA IS A 'COMMUNITY CHURCH.'
THIS IS MORE THAN JUST A NAME
AS A COMMUNITY CHURCH WE ASPIRE TO EMBODY THESE PRINCIPLES:
ALL PEOPLE ARE WELCOME HERE.
- No matter who you are, no matter where you’ve come from, if you are seeking God you
have a place among us: “…for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.”
(Isaiah 56:7)
OUR IDENTITY IS ROOTED IN OUR COMMUNITY.
- The Church grows out of the hopes, needs and aspirations of our community. It is neither
planted, nor transplanted, from the outside, but a native, organic and genuine product of
Christ’s work in our community.
OUR MEMBERSHIP IS MADE-UP OF PEOPLE FROM ALL (OR NO) DENOMINATIONS.
- A Community Church is ecumenical, inter- and even trans-denominational.
- The Church’s unity is based on God’s unfailing love for us and, in turn, our love for one
another.
- We do not minimize our differences, but view them as opportunities to show our respect
and love for each other.
- We unite with all Christians in affirming the great truths of our Faith as found in the
Scriptures.
- We reject any narrow, unbiblical, unspiritual and dogmatic sectarianism.
WE SERVE THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
- As a Community Church we serve the entire community and claim the whole of the
community as our parish.
- We seek to meet the spiritual and temporal needs of everyone in our community – whether
or not they are members, friends or attend the Church.
- At Fluvanna, we welcome all who love Jesus Christ, regardless of other affiliations, at the
Table of the Lord and we urge all who love the Lord, to come.
OUR CHURCH IS AUTONOMOUS.
- We cherish our freedom. As a Community Church, we are self-governing. We rely on the
Holy Spirit working through our members to govern ourselves.
- We assume full responsibility for our shared life and work.
WE ARE UNITED WITH ALL FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST.
- Fluvanna Church is not an island unto itself. We recognize our Church is part of a worldwide
movement of people who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.
- We are in fellowship with all other Churches proclaiming the Gospel of Christ.
- We yearn for the unity of all Christendom and work earnestly to that end.
OUR BELIEFS
From the beginning, the members of our Church viewed with dismay the unscriptural and unspiritual
conflicts between the followers of Jesus Christ. They saw first-hand how rampant sectarianism tore apart the body of Christ. Creeds and other theological formularies were often times abused and misused in the conflict between Christian denominations. As such, the early members of our Church looked with suspicion on creeds and the like. Not because they were unbelievers, but because they desired a living, vibrant faith and held in high regard the supremacy of the Bible. Nevertheless, they held certain core, essential beliefs clearly found in the Scriptures and proclaimed by Christians throughout the centuries.
Old Fluvanna Church Circa 1890
WE BELIEVE
The Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments are inspired by God, and that they are trustworthy, supreme and final authority in faith and life.
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In the triune God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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That Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God; that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, where He is now exalted at the right hand of the Father, and that He ministers there as our High Priest and Advocate. We believe in the personal, visible and glorious return of Jesus Christ at the end of this age to claim His own, judge all unrighteousness and establish His eternal Kingdom.
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In the divine personality and present work of the Holy Spirit Who makes the Church His temple, Who regenerates, indwells, enlightens and empowers the Christian and Who convicts the world of sin and leads men to Christ.
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That man was created in the image of the God; that he sinned and thereby incurred, not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is separation from God; that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and, in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought, word and deed. We believe that man’s salvation comes as a gift of God to all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ and are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become the children of God. WE believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the just and the unjust, the just to everlasting life and blessedness, and the unjust to judgement and eternal punishment.
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That the Church is an elect company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized by the Holy Spirit into one Body, with the mission of witnessing concerning its Head, Jesus Christ, by preaching the gospel to all nations and teaching the converts to honor Him. We further believe in the establishment and continuance of local churches as taught and defined in the Scriptures.
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In the existence of a personal devil called Satan who is the prince of the world and the god of this age and the adversary of God and man. We believe that, though active now, his destiny to eternal punishment was settled in the death of Christ on the cross.
