Vision

We are a fellowship of pastors, elders and laymen working together to encourage one another to dig into the past to renew our communities so that we may season the world with salt with the goal of expanding the kingdom and glorifying God’s name.  

We have borrowed the title Theopolitans from Birmingham, Alabama’s Theopolis Institute. We share their vision that is summed up in the words: Bible, liturgy, and culture. The Bible forms the worship of the church, which in turn reforms culture.

Find out more about the Theopolis Institute here: https://theopolisinstitue.com/

Why is this fellowship necessary?

For better or worse, the way of reform in the church in the 19th and 20th centuries was often the church split. The institutions lost their foundation, and those who help to the true foundation exited and rebuilt. This attitude seems to have created a loop of exit, rebuilding, and devolution. All of it was followed by a new exit.

There is a better way, and this is how reform has often been brought into the church. It is through a renewal movement. Why do we need a renewal movement?

Many good things are going on in the church of God today. We can see the work of God. While we can recognize the failure of the mainline denominations and federations, and we can recognize the inwardness of many conservative churches, we should also note the faithful preaching that continues to happen. We have seen the growth of the urban Church movement, and whatever criticisms we may have for that, we see God’s hand in those things. We have seen the development of New Calvinism, and of reformed theology in the church and praise God for what he is doing.

What we want to do is give that energy direction. Therefore, we look for reformed catholic renewal.

We desire churches that are grounded in historical reformed theology. A lot of people mean a lot of things by “historical reformed theology,” but what we mean here is the basic theology that is found in the great creeds and confessions of the magisterial reformation. We can mention the 39 Articles, the Three Forms of Unity, and the Westminster Confession of Faith that still have a place in many churches today. Grounding ourselves in this tradition, which ultimately is the holy catholic tradition that the Apolstles’ Creed speaks of, gives us a basis to set up guards against whatever demonic lies have a hold on people’s hearts today.

We also desire a catholic attitude. What we mean by that is three things: a willingness to learn from all the riches of the history of the church, a desire to recognize what is central to the Christian faith and what is less weighty while still emphasizing the importance of all of scripture for all of life, and finally a willingness to listen to Christians and exhort them, standing on the foundation of scripture, for the sake of the unity of the church. This catholic attitude is most manifest in the ways in which churches seek to worship God.

We desire an attitude that recognizes the need for renewal. Even if you have sound doctrine, you must continually be renewed in the power of the Spirit. It is the same for the church.

Consititution

We are a fellowship of pastors, elders, and laymen that desire the renewal of the church so that she may shine more brightly before the world.

Within our fellowship, we have two tiers, partners and friends.

Partners are those who willingly hold to the beliefs, pillars, and call to action. Partners will have a say in the direction of the order, meaning they will have a say in making changes to the founding documents and in the yearly decision-making (such as speakers or books to read or any other projects of the order).

Friends are those who share many goals with the order but do not desire to fully commit themselves to all of the beliefs of this order. Friends ought to, however, commit themselves to the Pillars and the Call to Action of this order.

All members are called to uphold and submit themselves to the constitution of this fellowship.

1. Our fellowship will have a maximum of five officers. To be an officer in this order, one must be a partner in the order. Officers must also bind themselves to a historic reformed Creed or Confession such as the Three Forms of Unity, The Westminster Confessions, or the 39 articles.

2. We commit to a pattern of daily prayer and scripture reading. We encourage members to look to the great liturgies and prayers of the past to form our daily devotions. We commit to regular immersion in the word of Christ.

3. We commit to reading together in order to grow in the gospel. Every month, we will read a book (or portion of a book) together chosen by our order’s officers. We will take the time to interact with one another over our readings to sharpen one another’s minds in the knowledge of the gospel.

4. We commit, as much as possible, to meeting together in a conference once a year. This conference will be an opportunity to grow in our understanding of scripture, as well as an opportunity to encourage one another in seeking Reformed Catholic Renewal.

5. We commit to gentleness, honesty, and love in our conduct to one another.

Beliefs

We affirm the ecumenical creeds of the early church, the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Chalcedon Creed.

We affirm one or more of the historic Reformed creeds of Protestantism, especially the three forms of Unity, the Westminster Confessions, or the 39 Articles.

Trinity
1. We confess the Holy Trinity, three in one and one in three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father in and through the Son. Each person is distinct from the other, yet there is no division in substance. Each person is worthy of all the honor, glory and power that belongs to the one true God.
2. In Christ and through Christ, we are preserved by the Father’s will and assured of this and transformed into the Son’s image through the Holy Spirit of Christ. Therefore, in all our worship and in all our life, we offer ourselves as acceptable sacrifices of praise to this Holy Trinity.
Attributes of God
1. We confess that God is almighty, holy, righteous, and without change. He is faithful to his covenant. He is simple in that he cannot be divided into parts. He is powerful to do anything he wishes to do. He is the overflowing fountain of all good so that we may trust that all things come together for good for those who love God.
Scripture
1. We confess that God used holy men, empowered by the Spirit, to write the word we have today. This word is entirely trustworthy and contains all that we need for our salvation.
2. We confess that all of scripture is useful for the Christians, for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Even though we may not understand the relevance of a passage, God’s Spirit can use it to form us.
Creation
1. We confess the Lord made the world out of nothing, for there is no other thing that can be found that has no beginning or end like the Lord our God.
2. We confess that even though the world’s creation was an extraordinary phenomenon, the seven days in Genesis 1 express ordinary time.
3. We confess that God created man in his image, male and female. Through the order in which he created them, he taught us that the husband ought to be the head of the household. Through this order, he also teaches us that only wise and godly men ought to teach authoritatively in the churches. This is why we exclude women from the office of Pastor and Elder.
Sin
1. We confess that while God created man in true holiness and righteousness, he deliberately chose to disobey God and so plunged himself and all his descendants into sin and misery.
2. We confess that man when he chose death, lost the freedom he had to choose what is good. He can no longer choose what is good unless regenerated by the Spirit of God.
3. We confess that there is an antithesis between those who are unregenerate and those who are regenerate.
4. We confess that there is some remaining light of nature for those enslaved by unbelief. However, this light of nature cannot bring anyone to seek reconciliation with God.
Covenant
1. God does not leave man in his sin and misery. God offers a way of reconciliation with himself. God uses covenantal structures to establish a formal relationship with his people. All the covenants of scripture find culmination in the covenant that is based on the blood of Christ. He said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”
2. God covenants with both believers and their children. This is the way God created the world. This is how he dealt with Israel, and this is how he deals with the new Israel and the New Creation.
Jesus Christ.
1. Scripture teaches that there is only one way to be truly reconciled to the Father. That is through Jesus Christ, who fulfills all the law and the prophets. He is revealed in the scriptures to be truly man, a descendant of David, and fulfills the office of man, prophet, priest, and king. He also reveals himself to be truly God because only his work can take away sins and in that, become a source of life. We confess with the Chalcedon formula that he is fully man and fully God, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.
2. This Jesus Christ became flesh through the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit
3. Once the Son finished his work, God exalted his Son and set him at his right hand where He reigns until he comes in the final judgment, where he will give back the authority and power to his Father, so that God may be all in all.
4. At the Father’s right hand, the person of Christ is a mercy seat to which all may come to forgiveness of sins. Through faith, one receives the Spirit of Christ, and in the Spirit receives the whole Christ. Nothing is held back from the one who believes in Jesus. Through sanctification, that truth is ever more fully realized until, through our physical death, there is an end to sin.
Church
1. God forms the church out of the side of Christ through the washing of the blood and the pouring out of the Spirit. The church is the blood-bought bride of Christ.
2. The church is the assembly of the saints.
3. The church’s election, her Spirit, her faith, and her assembly at the spiritual Mt. Zion are invisible. The church’s local assembly, her proclamation, her confession, and her table are visible.
4. Christ gives the church the keys of the kingdom. These are the preaching of the gospel and church discipline. The preaching of the gospel is done through word and sacrament. In Church discipline, the church is given the power to excommunicate.
5. The civil magistrate is given God’s sword of vengeance. The civil magistrate is called to uphold the church’s task, and the church is called to uphold the task of the civil magistrate.
6. Christ gives his church officers or under-shepherds, whom he calls to guard and teach the church of Christ in her task before God. They are called to exercise the keys of the kingdom. They are called as guardians and overseers of the church of Christ.
7. The church is created as a salt and a light to the world. Her very being is a witness to the world of Jesus Christ. Her calling is to exercise that saltiness and brightness in and for the world. Her declaration in the Spirit: “Christ has died for the sins of the world so that whoever may believe in him will have eternal life.”
Sacraments
1. Jesus Christ has established two sacraments for the church of Christ. These are meant to point the Christian to Christ and seal him through the Spirit to confirm his unity with Christ.
2. Baptism is the ritual of initiation into the church of Christ. In Baptism, the Christian is joined to the crucifixion and death of Christ and through the response of faith to the resurrection of Christ. In Baptism, God promises to wash away sins and to be with the Christian through his Spirit.
3. Baptism ought to be offered to the children of believers as well, for God tells us that the gospel’s promises belong to believers and their children.
4. The Lord’s Supper is the ritual of union and renewal in Christ. God assures us in the wine that we have forgiveness of sins, and so we will live through the final judgment through faith. God teaches us in the bread that we are being formed into a new creation in the image of Christ.
Election
1. We confess that God, in his good pleasure, chose before the foundation of the world a certain and precise number of saints to be brought to glory through the work of his Son Jesus Christ.
2. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice was intended for the salvation of this precise number of saints
3. The Spirit of God works true faith (or the living faith of James 1 and 2) in the hearts of the elect. Through that true faith, they are justified. That is, God counts our sins as punished on the cross of Christ and counts Christ’s righteousness as our righteousness. That justification is proved through the good works that God foreordained and which he works in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
4. The remainder are passed over and so are destined for damnation.
5. God uses his covenant, the church officers, and his word and sacraments to keep the elect for glory. All this he does this through the work of the Spirit, who works and wills for the good pleasure of the Father.
6. God assures the saints of their election through the record of his great works and the promises found in scripture. He also assures them through the work of the Spirit in their lives.
7. Some participate in the covenant for a time but apostatize and are damned.
Second Coming and the Millennium.
1. We look forward to the final coming of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead.
2. Meanwhile, we believe that Jesus continues to manifest his power in history. His kingdom began in the first century. The inaugural period was between the resurrection of Christ and the judgment that came upon Jerusalem in the first century.
3. We trust God’s promises that his glory will fill the earth.
4. The kingdom will grow through the rule of Christ and his saints, even now. A short time is coming just before the end, however, in which Satan will deceive the nations as he did in the 1st century.
5. Finally, Christ will come to judge the living and the dead. At that time, all will be raised from the dead, both the good and the evil. Those who have failed to trust in Christ and his word will be condemned to the second death. Those who have trusted the promises of Christ will be given eternal life with God. This is what we look forward to in whatever trials and temptations we receive in this life.

Contents

Vision

Why is this fellowship necessary?

Consititution

Beliefs

Pages