6 articles.
Canyon Missional Community (CMC) is a church plant located in Canyon, TX, approximately twenty minutes south of Amarillo, TX. Roughly three years ago, First Presbyterian Church of Amarillo sent Pastor Kim Talley and a team of elders and deacons to plant a church near the West Texas A&M campus. Thus, CMC is thoroughly concerned with reaching students with the Gospel of Christ, yet it is not a campus ministry.
Sound polity in the local church is essential for a healthy ministry marked by faithfulness to Christ and His gospel, for polity determines how a church is structured, led, and connected to other churches. From a Presbyterian perspective, sound polity is characterized by covenantal membership, governance by elders and presbyters in graded courts, and binding association with other churches for accountability and mission. This short essay will examine the characteristics of polity and how they are understood by Presbyterians, while engaging the Baptist perspective.
Congregational polity, a longtime distinctive of Baptist ecclesiology, is rooted in Biblical convictions and historical development. John S. Hammett describes the polity of Baptist churches this way: "Baptists have stood virtuously unanimously in favor of congregational church government… In this model, the congregation exercises the ultimate human authority in the church, under Christ's divine authority.
Simply put, I am not a Baptist because I am a Presbyterian. Presbyterianism offers a more coherent and systematic expression of the Christian Faith that better aligns with Scripture, historical developments in light of Scripture, and theological doctrines derived from Scripture. This short essay will demonstrate my rationale for embracing a Presbyterian identity, particularly focusing on the doctrine of baptism, especially paedobaptism and baptismal efficacy.
While we are a Presbyterian church in a Presbyterian denomination, we can learn much from our Baptist brothers in Christ. One of the valuable teachings we would be wise to adopt is meaningful membership—"membership is not simply the record of a statement we once made or an affection toward a familiar place. It must be the reflection of a living commitment, or it is worthless." Membership commands our utmost commitment.
The Westminster Confession of Faith systematically represents the Christian faith and doctrine. Since its conception, it has been well received by Christians of all denominations and remains relevant for Christians and churches worldwide today. Primarily, the Confession "[is] as much used now in Anglo-Presbyterian Churches as ever, and [has] more vitality and influence than any other Calvinistic Confession."