Statement of Faith, Character, Belief, and Ordinances
Calvary Chapel of Prescott has been formed as a fellowship of believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our supreme desire is to know Christ and be conformed to His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not a denominational church, nor are we opposed to denominations as such, only their over-emphasis of the doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the Body of Christ.
We believe the only true basis of Christian fellowship is Christ’s (agape) love, which is greater than any difference we possess, and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians.
We believe worship of God should be spiritual. Therefore, we remain flexible and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship.
We believe worship of God should be inspirational. Therefore, we give great place to music in our worship.
We believe worship of God should be intelligent. Therefore, our services are designed with great emphasis upon the teaching of the Word of God that He might instruct us how He should be worshiped.
We believe worship of God should be fruitful. Therefore, we look for His love in our lives as the supreme manifestation that we have been truly worshiping Him.
We believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, in the original autographs, is the inspired, infallible Word of God, a complete and final written revelation of God.
We believe in one personal, transcendent, and holy God, the creator of all, who is eternal, and who manifests Himself in three separate persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe that Jesus Christ, though fully God, became a man for the suffering of death, that He is the promised Messiah, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the Cross, was bodily resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us. After Jesus ascended to Heaven, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the Gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers today.
We believe that all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person puts their faith in Jesus Christ–trusting that He alone can save them–that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a child of God.
We believe in the person and work of the Holy Spirit who indwells, seals, and empowers every believer, baptizing them into the Body of Christ. We also believe all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures are valid for today if they are exercised within the scriptural guidelines. We believe that love is more important than all the gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.
We believe Jesus Christ is the head of the Body, His church, and that church government should be simplistic rather than a complex bureaucracy. We desire to be led by the Holy Spirit in all the functions and directions of the ministry of the church.
We await the pre-tribulational rapture of the church, and we believe that the Second Coming of Christ with His saints to rule on the earth will be personal, pre-millennial, and visible. This motivates us to holy living, heartfelt worship, committed service, diligent study of God’s Word, regular fellowship, and participation in baptism by immersion and in Holy Communion.
We seek to teach the Word of God in such a way that its message can be applied to an individual’s life, leading that person to greater maturity in Christ.
We reject doctrinal viewpoints or spiritual phenomena, which are based solely on experience. We look to the Word of God for the basis of all our faith and practice.
We believe in a personal devil called Satan who, along with all his evil angels, called demons, is destined to spend eternity in hell, and who now seeks to deceive the believers and defeat the work of God, but who can be resisted by believers who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, protected by God, and interceded for by Jesus our Lord.
We believe that the nation of Israel has a special place in God’s plan and that all the promises of the God of Israel will be fulfilled.
Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality
We believe in the biblical account of creation and God as the Creator. We believe that God creates each man and woman and that He created them with the immutable and unchangeable nature of male and female to reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one’s biological and God given sex is sin and is a rejection of the image of God within that person.
God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. For this reason homosexuality, and all other “sexual preferences” or “orientations” are unnatural, sinful, and unacceptable to God. Accordingly, this ministry will not perform any marriage ceremonies between two individuals of the same sex. It will not condone or recognize such same-sex marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships even if laws are passed that provide for recognition of such unions.
We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one biological man and one biological woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Gen. 2:18-25). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (1st Cor. 6:18,7:2-5; Heb. 13:4)
We believe that any form of sexual immorality is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt. 15:18-20; 1st Cor. 6:9-10), and that legitimate biblical sexual relations are exercised solely within marriage. Hence sexual activities such as, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, pre-marital sex, incest, polygamy, homosexuality, transgenderism, bisexuality, cross-dressing, pedophilia, and bestiality are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the Church. Further, lascivious behavior, the creation, viewing, and/or distribution of pornography, and efforts to alter one’s physical gender or gender-related appearance are incompatible with a true biblical witness. (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6; John 4:16-18; Rom. 1:18-32; 1st Cor. 5:11,6:9-11,6:18-20,7:1-3,7:8-9; Gall. 5:19; Eph. 5:3-7; 1st Tim. 1:9-11)
We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of Calvary Chapel of Prescott as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to our Calvary Chapel Prescott congregants and community, it is imperative that members of the Board of Directors, all persons employed by Calvary Chapel of Prescott in any capacity, or those who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality (Matt. 5:16; Php. 2:14-16; 1st Thes. 5:22)
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Rom. 10:9-10; 1st Cor. 6:9-11)
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the beliefs and doctrines of Calvary Chapel of Prescott. However, compassion for a person struggling with sin should not be mistaken for approval of such sin.
Statement of Authority
The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe.
For purposes of Calvary Chapel of Prescott’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, our Senior Pastor and Board of Directors are Calvary Chapel of Prescott’s final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application, and the English Standard Version of the Bible will serve as the baseline for this interpretation.