A Letter To Prospective Visitors

Thank you for your interest in our church! If you are looking for a church where you can get great Christian fellowship with people who care about you, develop lasting friendships, and actually participate in the meetings, rather than be a passive spectator,  you have come to the right place!

How do we accomplish this? We intentionally pattern our meetings after the way that the early church met during the time of the apostles. This way of meeting has proven to be very conducive to fellowship and mutual participation, and is in accord with the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer. We think that the early Christians were on to something!

Here are two unique aspects of how the apostles taught the early church to meet that we imitate in our meetings:

1. We have participatory meetings. In I Corinthians 14, the apostle Paul described how the Corinthians met when they came together:

1 Corinthians 14:26  How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

Did you catch that? At Corinth, the pastor and minister of music were not the only ones who spoke in the meetings! The "laymen" were able to bring a song or a teaching, too! We make a conscious effort to encourage this kind of mutual participation, but while following the guidelines that the apostle Paul gave in the rest of this chapter. For more information, read I Corinthians 14:26 through the end of the chapter, and the article  How to Have a New Testament Church Meeting.

2. We celebrate the Lord's Supper as a fellowship meal. The early church celebrated the Lord's Supper not just with bread and wine, but also as a fellowship meal, just as Jesus celebrated it in the context of the Passover meal with his disciples. Each week when we meet, each family brings a dish, and we enjoy wonderful fellowship at this meal. For more information, read Acts 2:46, 20:7, I Corinthians 11, and  Why we celebrate the Lord's Supper in the context of a meal and The Lord's Supper: Feast or Famine?.

We consider the fellowship that takes place around the Lord's supper to be the most important part of our meeting. We believe that the Lord's Supper typifies past, present, and future aspects of the Christian experience. Past, because He died and suffered for our sins; present, because we enjoy communion and fellowship with Him and with one another; and future, because we await the wedding supper of the Lamb.

Casual Atmosphere

We dress casually and comfortably, but modestly and neatly. Blue jeans or khakis are just fine. In regards to modesty, this regards not only covering body parts, but obscuring their shape. Here are just a few general guidelines:

Shorts and skirts should be close to the knee or below. No breast cleavage, midriffs, chest hair, tight-fitting clothes, uncovered shoulders, exposed underwear or bra straps, attention-grabbing clothing or ornamentation.

The kids often go out to play in the yard after the meeting, so you may want to dress them accordingly.

Our Beliefs

We are not a cult! We hold to the Nicene Creed, the Apostle’s Creed, and the Definition of Chalcedon. We believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, evidenced by a life of obedience. Our biblically based  Confession of Faith is based on scripture and patterned after all three of these creeds, as well as other doctrines of the Faith that most protestants and evangelicals hold to be foundational.

Guidelines for Participation In Our Meetings

Interested in coming? Then please take a moment to read the following guidelines for participating in our meetings.

The opportunity to address the church is a wonderful privilege that accords with the  doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. However, like all privileges, there are responsibilities that come with it, and there are scriptural guidelines to follow. Here are some principles and guidelines that we ask all who speak in our meetings to observe. Many of them have been written as "preventative medicine" - to prevent many of of the controversies that in our experience, often afflict and divide churches that practice participatory meetings.

• Please come with a spirit of humility and peace into the meetings. Recognize that although the scriptures are inerrant, each of us can err in interpreting them. Because of this, we must be tolerant of those who sincerely and honestly interpret some scriptures differently, as long as they do not violate the basic doctrines of the faith.

Romans 14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

• Please do not challenge the foundational doctrines of the faith during our meetings (please refer to our Statement of Faith for the doctrines that we consider to be foundational).

Hebrews 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

• We try to follow the injunction of the apostle Paul concerning speaking in church meetings: "Let all things be done unto edifying." Everything spoken in the church meeting should be for the purpose of edifying God's people. 
• Please do not foster divisiveness or strife, or publicly challenge our practices or beliefs during the meetings. This is not appropriate for a Sunday meeting, and is especially unedifying to the children. For this reason, we avoid heated debate during the main meeting.   If we adopt changes to any of our practices, it will be in an orderly and peaceful fashion, in a setting and format agreed upon in advance.

1Co 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Pr 17:14 The beginning of strife is like releasing water; Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts.

Pr 20:3  It is honorable for a man to stop striving, since any fool can start a quarrel.

• When a church meeting has begun and men are present, although the ladies in our fellowship will often pray or add some insightful revelatory/prophetic comments as the Lord leads (I Cor 11, 14:24, 26, 31), we ask that they refrain from publicly teaching men, challenging or questioning a male teacher, and from disruptive private speech  in observance of 1 Tim 2:11-15 and 1 Cor 14: 34-35. When a man is giving an interactive teaching and invites comments, we ask the ladies to refrain from "mini-teachings" and limit their comments to the prophetic/revelatory. In regard to 1Tim 2:12, "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.", the Greek word hesuchia, translated 'silence" here,  is the same word that Paul used just a few verses earlier, in I Timothy 2:1-2, when he wrote, "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." This Greek word does not mean absolute silence, but rather tranquility, free from contentiousness and disruption. This is the overall demeanor that Paul encouraged women to observe in church. When the ladies observe these scriptural guidelines, they create, in the words of Jonathan Lindvall, a "leadership vacuum" that the men, even if they are somewhat shy, will feel compelled to step into. By doing this, the women can encourage their husbands and fathers to walk in the spiritual leadership roles God has called them to.
• In 1 Corinthians 14:29,  we perceive the wisdom of God in instructing a woman to ask theological questions of her husband or father at home. By doing so, a woman can encourage her husband or father to dig into the Word of God more. If he cannot determine the answer, she can encourage him to approach a church leader for her. This will stimulate his mind more concerning spiritual things. This may also be a good policy to follow even with an unsaved man. A question like this might provoke an unsaved man to search the scriptures, or to approach a church leader about the question. This could even lead to his salvation!
• Please take into account, however, that although we observe these scriptures, our ladies have more freedom to speak and pray publicly in our participatory meetings than in churches where only the pastor speaks, and the women, as well as most of the men, seldom get a chance to say a thing in  church! In addition, we believe in the female teaching ministries described in Titus 2:3-5. 
• Some believe that Paul was referring to a covering of long hair, and others to a garment covering in 1 Corinthians 11. We leave it up to each family to follow the dictates of their conscience in this matter. However, nearly everyone is agreed that Paul was referring to some sort of head covering. Therefore, we ask that any woman who speaks publicly in our meetings have a head covering either of long hair or a garment. If her hair is of a length so short that men commonly wear it (we will let her be the judge of this), please don a covering of some kind before speaking publicly in church. We realize that this request will upset some women, but it is important to us that we be obedient to the scriptures. This is an issue that can easily polarize a church, so please do not make this a point of public debate in our meetings.
• We believe in the use of  musical instruments in our meetings ( Psalm 33:2,  92:3, 144:9, 150; Rom 14:4-6, 1 Cor 14:26, Rev 15:2 ), but also sing without them. Please do not make this a point of public debate in our meetings.
• We ask that anyone who speaks in the meeting observe Peter 4:11: "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God" This means that nothing should be spoken that is not initiated by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. He is faithful to lead and guide us, if we are sensitive to His leading.
• Although we have great respect for the accuracy and language of the KJV, we do not have a KJV only policy. If someone reads from a different translation, please do not disrupt things by making this a point of public contention.
• If you bring a teaching, please leave time for others to exercise their spiritual and teaching gifts, too, if any others desire to do so.
• We believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still being granted to believers today. We do not claim that any particular spiritual gift is for everyone, but in accordance with 1 Corinthians 12:11, hold that the Holy Spirit "bestows His gifts upon each of us in accordance with His own will." We value genuineness, sincerity, and discernment in the exercise of spiritual gifts.
• We do not have Sunday school or Children's church. Instead, the children remain with their parents  during the meeting. It is good for them to see their parents and other adults modeling godly Christian behavior for them in church. If you have small children, it is best to have them sit right next to you so that you can quiet them if needed. You can bring quiet toys or drawing materials for them to play with. If a family has many young children or an unruly toddler, and appears overwhelmed with their care, please keep an eye out for opportunities to lovingly and non-judgmentally assist them. You might especially keep an eye out to help the mothers of our church leaders when needed, because their husbands, when teaching or leading music, cannot assist the mothers as much with the care of the children.

We invite you to come and visit us, and discover for yourself what a New Testament style meeting is like! We meet on Sundays at 4:00 PM.

The Brethren at Christ Home Fellowship

Thanks to Steve Atkerson, for providing us with the "Letter to Prospective Visitors" idea.