Beliefs
What We Believe
As an orthodox Christian church, we joyfully affirm the Great Tradition of our faith. Our beliefs are determined by the Bible and expressed in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. In all matters of doctrine, we are guided by this historic principle: “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In everything, love.”
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 catholic (universal) Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
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.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic (universal) and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
The two most frequent theological questions posed to the Elders of our church tend to revolve around these two topics. Therefore, we are stating a shared theology on both—not because there is a biblical emphasis on either that matches the topics covered thus far, but simply out of pastoral response to the questions being asked both within our church and broader culture.
This summary of belief is intended to guide the members of our church in our spiritual formation and not as a standard of practice, or worse a theological weapon, against outsiders or friends of our spiritual community.
We lead with a heart of love and compassion for people. The doors and the arms of our church family are open to anyone, regardless of belief. No one will ever be excluded from worshiping with us on Sundays for any misalignment of belief.
The question of how men and women relate and engage in church leadership offices (particularly pastor and elder) has been a subject of significant debate at various points in church history. There are many considerations within the broader subject of men and women in leadership that are dealt with in the Bible. Here we have included a summary of things we see taught across the arc of Scripture that directly bear on our church’s position and practice.
We believe that women and men are created equal in the image of God.
We believe that full equality between women and men does not mean women and men are completely the same. There is goodness and beauty uniquely represented in each gender that profoundly reflects and glorifies God.
We believe God gives leadership in the church on the basis of grace, calling, spiritual gifts, obedience, and character.
We believe both women and men can and should lead, preach, pastor, and minister within the church. We believe women and men doing this together will result in a more robust ministry of love and grace than one gender can sustain alone.
We believe women and men can and should serve in pastoral leadership in the local church.
TheCity.church believes that men and women are equally gifted and qualified to lead and serve as co-laborers in the church. We do not simply permit, but expressly value, the presence of both men and women in these various facets of church leadership, including the role of elder.
Recommended Reading
From Genesis to Junia by Preston Sprinkle
Discovering Biblical Equality by Ronald W. Pierce, Cynthia Long Westfall, and Christa L. McKirkland
Tell Her Story by Nijay K. Gupta
Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals by William J. Webb
Women and Worship at Corinth by Lucy Peppiatt
One of the great difficulties in defining a biblical understanding of sexuality in our modern context is the unseen, inner pain a person often carries behind the question.
In recent history, the church has mishandled the topic of sexuality from a variety of angles. The church’s witness has centered on what forms of sexual expression Scripture is against instead of the dignifying, freeing sexual expression Scripture advocates for. Jesus majored in the latter; the church has emphasized the former.
More personally, while the church has historically held to an understanding of sexuality distinct from the surrounding culture, the application of that belief in recent history has become alienating to those whose sexual expression does not line up with the church’s. The tragedy of that shift has been that many have been made to feel alienated by the Christian church because of sexual practice and/or sexual orientation.
Because of the complexity presented by recent history, we will succinctly define both our belief and how we express our belief, which carry equal importance.
Belief: We believe in the historically Christian view of marriage and sexual expression; namely, that marriage is a lifelong one-flesh covenant union between two sexually different persons (male and female) from different families, and that all sexual relationships and expressions outside of marriage are sin.
How we Express Our Belief: The expression of this belief is often the more important question to people in search of a spiritual home: Will I (or one of my loved ones) be welcomed at TheCity.church? And is there a barrier where that welcome is worn out?
Regardless of sexual practice and/or orientation, TheCity.church welcomes all to worship with us. Jesus is the head of the church, and Jesus was uncompromising in teaching and calling people to align with his beliefs, a pathway to “life to the full.” (John 10:10) Another group of rabbis, called the Pharisees, were equally convicted of the truth of their beliefs, and held many beliefs in common with Jesus. So why was it that those who felt alienated by the Pharisees also felt so welcome by Jesus?
Because of how each expressed common beliefs: the Pharisees did so in pride, as their primary concern was being right, while Jesus did so in love, as His primary concern was compassion for the person and story behind the belief.
The church is called the Body of Christ. We are a communal expression of Jesus’ heart, so both our beliefs and our expression of those beliefs should mirror Jesus. When it comes to sexuality, we carry three important convictions that inform our expression:
Our first responsibility is to be a living display of covenant love and sexuality. The church was not founded to critique the surrounding culture but to form a distinct counterculture where “life to the full” is on display as an invitation to all.
However, in many ways (covenant love and sexuality being one obvious example) the church has mirrored the culture more than forming a counterculture. Therefore, our work is not to change anyone else’s mind or critique the world outside of our family, but to live with the sort of fidelity, service, and love within our own singleness and marriage covenants that we become a living witness to the fullest sort of life.
We are committed to seek to understand and address the deep heart issues of identity and experience which draw some people into the LGBTQI+ practice; to reach out with love, compassion, and justice of Christ, and to reject and condemn all forms of hatred, verbal or physical abuse, and victimization of LGBTQI+ people.
We must differentiate between agreement and acceptance. One of the truly fascinating aspects of the life of Jesus is that the very people whose lives least aligned with his ethical teachings were most drawn to him. His dinner company and close friends are made up of people out-of-alignment with his teaching (e.g. Jesus teaches that to even look at a woman lustfully is to commit adultery, then is consistently surrounded by prostitutes who profited on lust; Jesus teaches an ethic of radical generosity, then welcomes a tax collector, whose life was defined by greed, into his inner circle of 12 disciples; etc.).
In modern cultural rhetoric, agreement and acceptance are often used synonymously: “If you don’t agree with my ethical choices (belief), you don’t accept me (expression).” However, in Jesus, we observe the opposite phenomenon: Those who felt most accepted in his presence were those most obviously living in disagreement with his teaching. Therefore, as a church we are committed to becoming a community linked to Jesus in both agreement and acceptance.
We are unapologetically aligned with every word of his teaching. Equally, we are uncompromisingly insistent on becoming the sort of community where those out-of-alignment with his beliefs (including sexuality) feel welcome and accepted in our fellowship.
Recommended Podcasts
Recommended Books
Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity (Gregory Cole)
Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been (Jackie Hill Perry)
Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church, and What the Bible Has to Say (Preston Sprinkle)
Rethinking Sexuality: God's Design and Why It Matters (Juli Slattery)
For Parents
Talking to your kids about sex: when & how
How to have mini and many conversations about sexuality with your kids
How do I talk to a teen about sexual integrity?
How do I talk to my kids about masturbation?
When your child has been sexually abused
How do I protect my children from pornography?
Recommended Messages From TheCity.Church
Created: A Theology of the Body
Sex God: An Exploration of Sexual Ethics
Love Story: A Theology of Christian Marriage
Other Resources
Where to get help for porn addiction
How do I rebuild trust after betrayal?
How sexual abuse effects you (and why God is still trustworthy)
Deconstructing ‘Purity Culture’
Finding intimacy & community as a celibate gay Christian
How can my spouse and I learn to talk about sex?
How trauma affects our bodies & souls
Should I tell my partner about my sexual past?
My spouse is looking at porn. What now?
I want sex more than my wife does. What can I do?
I want sex more than my husband. What can I do?
Is [fill in the blank] okay in the bedroom?
I've never prayed about sex before. How can I start?