First Presbyterian Church

Vision

"Lifting Up Christ, Building Up People"

Our Mission/Purpose Statement

As the body of Christ, called by God the Father and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are committed to "Lifting Up Christ, Building Up People" by:

• Praising God Joyfully
• Belonging to Each Other Wholeheartedly
• Knowing Jesus Personally; Growing in the Spirit Faithfully
• Serving and Caring Sacrificially
• Sharing the Gospel Boldly

What I believe and promise as a believer in Christ and a member of First Presbyterian Church on Court Square

When you joined First Presbyterian Church on Court Square you were given the opportunity to respond to these questions in the affirmative before the Session.

1. Do you believe that God your Father loves you and wants to forgive you?

2. Do you believe that you are a sinner and need to be forgiven?

3. Do you believe the Good News that Jesus Christ is God's Son and your Savior, and that your salvation comes through accepting his life, death and resurrection in your place for the forgiveness of your sins?

4. Do you resolve and promise, in simple trust in the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will seek to live a consistent Christian life, honoring Christ in all your relationships?

5. Do you promise to serve Christ by being a faithful member of First Presbyterian Church on Court Square: to be faithful in prayer, Bible study, witness, worship, unselfish Christian service, and the joyful giving of your finances, time and abilities?

6. Do you willingly submit yourself to the government and discipline of the church, and promise to further its purity and peace?

Confessing Church Movement in the Presbyterian Church (USA)

The Session of First Presbyterian Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia meeting on April 23, 2001 joins faithful believers throughout the Church in confessing:

That Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation.

That holy Scripture is the triune God's revealed Word, the Church's only infallible rule of faith and life.

That God's people are called to holiness in all aspects of life. This includes honoring the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the only relationship within which sexual activity is appropriate.

We therefore announce our commitment to the Confessing Church Movement and we implore all Presbyterians who share these historic Christian convictions to:

Renew their individual commitments to the above confessions.

Urge their session and presbytery to affirm these confessions and to declare that they will not ordain, install or employ in any ministry position any person who will not affirm them.
Urge the 2001 General Assembly to instruct the General Assembly Council to require that all program personnel uphold these confessions and ensure that these confessions are followed faithfully in all programs and policies of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Signed:

Ronald T. McCoy, Clerk of Session

Dr. John F. Sloop, Moderator

Witness to Biblical Morality

Adopted by the Session September 28, 1990, reaffirmed Feb. 25, 1996 and April 23, 2001

We, the Session of First Presbyterian Church of Harrisonburg, Virginia, resolve and declare that we seek to be a church committed to follow Biblically revealed standards of moral thought, behavior, and relationships within our homes and church, God helping us.
Believing that:

"Christian marriage is an institution ordained of God, blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ, established and sanctified for the happiness and welfare of mankind, into which spiritual and physical union one man and one woman enter, cherishing a mutual esteem and love, bearing with each other's infirmities and weaknesses, comforting each other in trouble, providing in honesty and industry for each other and for their household, praying for each other, and living together the length of their days as heirs of the grace of life."
-- (Westminster Confession of Faith. XXIV - BOC, 6.131);

"Because the corruption of man is apt unduly to put asunder those whom God hath joined together in marriage, and because the Church is concerned with the establishment of marriage in the Lord as Scripture sets it forth, and with the present penitence as well as with the past innocence or guilt of those whose marriage has been broken; therefore as a breach of that holy relation may occasion divorce, so remarriage after a divorce granted on grounds explicitly stated in Scripture or implicit in the gospel of Christ may be sanctioned in keeping with his redemptive gospel, when sufficient penitence for sin and failure is evident, and a firm purpose of and endeavor after Christian marriage is manifest."
-- (Westminster Confession of Faith. XXIV - BOC, 6.132);

and "The relationship between man and woman exemplifies in a basic way God's ordering of the interpersonal life for which he created mankind. Anarchy in sexual relationships is a symptom of man's alienation from God, his neighbor, and himself... The church, as the household of God, is called to lead men out of this alienation into the responsible freedom of the new life in Christ. Reconciled to God, each person has joy in and respect for his own humanity and that of other persons; a man and woman are enabled to marry, to commit themselves to a mutually shared life, and to respond to each other in sensitive and lifelong concern; parents receive the grace to care for children in love and to nurture their individuality. The church comes under the judgment of God and invites rejection by man when it fails to lead men and women into the full meaning of life together, or withholds the compassion of Christ from those caught in the moral confusion of our time."
-- The Confession of 1967 - BOC, 9:47)

We do now call ourselves and our congregation to live a life that:

1. Respects all family members in an atmosphere of Christ-like love, forgiveness, and grace and so avoids any kinds of abuse of children, spouses, and/or parents;

(Ex. 20:12; Lev. 18:6-18; Prov. 22:6, Mt. 19:14; Eph. 5:25-6:4; Col. 3:19-21; I Tim. 3:11; I Peter 3:1-7)

2. Confirms God's intention for humanity that those who enter into marriage shall seek in mutual love and respect to live, one man and one woman, in Christian fidelity as long as both shall live:

(Gen. 1:27, 2:23-24; Ex. 20:14, 17; Mk. 10:9; I Cor. 7:2-5; Heb. 13:4)

3. Fulfills God's design for the gift of sexuality to be exercised and enjoyed only within the covenant relationship of Christian marriage of one man and one woman;

(I Cor. 5:1-5, 6:12-20; II Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5; I Thess. 4:3-8)

4. Acknowledges God's expectation that the unmarried shall live a pure and celibate life refraining from sexual intimacy, whether such perceive his/her sexual orientation to be inclined toward heterosexuality or homosexuality;

(Lev. 18:22; Mt. 5:27-30; Mk. 7:20-23; Rm. 1:24-32; I Cor. 7:9, 32-35; Jude 7)

5. Obeys the voice of God through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to extend the privilege of ordination to church office only to repentant sinners, whether heterosexual or homosexual, and to withhold this ordination privilege from the unrepentant whose practice of sexual sin prevents their manner of life from being "in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church."

(BOO, G-6:0106b) and (Acts 15:22-29; Eph. 4:1-3, 17-5:20; I Tim. 3:1-10; I Tim. 5:22; Titus 1:5-9; I Peter 1:13-21; I Peter 5:1-9)

6. Extends to all who sin in failing to keep these revealed standards of God regarding family abuse, Christian marriage, human sexuality, celibate continence, and ordination to church office that same forgiving love that the father extended to the prodigal son, and that same costly grace which Christ himself extended to the woman taken in adultery when he said to her: "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

(Ps. 103:3-4; Mt. 6:14, 33; Lk. 15:11-32; John 8:1-11; Acts 5:31, 13:38; I Cor. 6:9-11; Gal. 6:1-10; Eph. 1:7; I Peter 2:24; I John 1:9)

7. Cares for those who have become victims of disease through their own sexual behavior or through the abuse of another by ministering to their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs with the compassion and acceptance of Christ who "came not to be served, but to serve" and to heal, and who commands us: "Bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ."

(Prov. 10:12; Mt. 20:28; Lk. 5:27-32, 9:11; John 3:17; John 15:12; Rom. 15:7, Eph. 5:2; I Thess. 5:9, 10)

FOR THESE CONVICTIONS WE SHALL BAND TOGETHER FOR A PUBLIC WITNESS FOR BIBLICAL MORALITY AND FAMILY/PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.)

Signed:

Dr. John F. Sloop, Moderator

Ronald T. McCoy, Clerk of Session

An Open Letter to Commissioners of the 217th General Assembly of the PC(USA)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Greetings from the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia! As you represent the larger church in Birmingham, please know that we are praying for the leading of the Holy Spirit in all your deliberations.

Though there are many important matters coming before this Assembly, the issue that concerns us most is any attempt to remove or 'move around' the fidelity/chastity standards for ordination in G-6.0106b. These are Biblical standards which have been ratified through the amendment process and reaffirmed by several votes in the Presbyteries over the past several years. The PC(USA) has spoken repeatedly on maintaining these standards. The last vote on fidelity/chastity in 2001 revealed that 73% of the Presbyteries favor maintaining our current standards. Recent studies show that only 25% of church members approve of the ordination of sexually active homosexual persons.

But now, at this 217th General Assembly, you are being asked to approve a new Authoritative Interpretation (recommendation # 5 in the PUP report) which by a simple majority at this GA will turn our polity on its head and open the door to the ordination of self-affirming, practicing, unrepentant homosexual persons. And remember, we in the Presbyteries will not get the opportunity to debate and vote on this new AI proposed in recommendation # 5 of the PUP report! That's just not the Presbyterian way!!

It took the PUP Task Force 4 years of intensive study and discernment to come up with this report and its' recommendations. And though they have encouraged the church to move beyond "yes/no polarities", discouraging up or down votes, that's precisely what they are asking you to do… vote up or down on a new Authoritative Interpretation which, we believe, will bring pandemonium to the PC(USA), not peace and unity to our already divided… declining church.

We implore you, do not vote to remove our existing ordination standards or adopt a new Authoritative Interpretation that will put the PC(USA) in the untenable position of professing to hold Biblical standards of fidelity and chastity, while at the same time treating obedience and compliance to those very standards as optional . This "third way" to peace and unity comes at the expense of our theological purity and creates a hypocritical polity that will promote a creeping congregationalism in our cherished connectional form of government.

This is a critical time in the life of our beloved denomination. Please help us protect G-6.0106b and defeat the proposed AI in recommendation # 5 of the PUP report.

Grace and Peace,

The Session of First Presbyterian Church on Court Square,

Harrisonburg, Virginia