Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Redeemer Presbyterian Church is self-consciously founded on the principles of the historic Christian faith. Among these principles is an emphasis on the importance of the local church in the life of the believer. It has been said at different times throughout Christian history, “If God is your Father then the Church is your Mother.” Whether exactly true or not, the statement drives home the point that faith in Christ involves a deep appreciation and commitment to the Church for which He gave His life. Our understanding of the importance and purpose of the local church can be summarized under three general headings:
Worship—Jesus commissioned the local church to administer grace to His people through word, sacrament, and prayer. The members of the local church regularly assemble together in the name of the Triune God, where the word is rightly preached, the sacraments (baptism and communion) are rightly administered, and all things are lifted up in prayer. When this occurs, believers assuredly receive true spiritual food for the nourishment, strengthening, and perseverance of their souls.
Nurture—Being richly nourished by God’s grace through worship, the church is also a community where believers are naturally, though intentionally, engaged in the fellowship, nurture, and care (both physical and spiritual) of fellow Christians within the congregation, including our children. Through family worship, hospitality, mentoring, Bible study, discipleship, prayer, benevolence, and a general overall care and concern for one another, God’s children are encouraged to bear fruit and to stand firm in a world that can be quite hostile to Jesus Christ and His followers.
Outreach/Witness—As the members of Christ’s Body (the Church) are fed by the Lord through rightly ordered worship and are being encouraged by their participation in a fruitful, nurturing church community, they naturally--or perhaps supernaturally--become witnesses to the Gospel. The actions and words of those whose hearts are changed by the love and grace of Christ effectively proclaim the good news of Christ. God gave the simple but powerful means mentioned above in order to reach unbelievers, bring them to saving faith, and sustain them in it.
We know there is tremendous pressure on the church today to compromise and to be attractive to unbelievers in a worldly sense in order to achieve numerical success. But we are convinced that “what you win them with is what you win them to.” Therefore it is our sincere desire to be a faithful worshipping, nurturing, and witnessing community of believers who, in the words of the apostle Paul, “have counted all things to be loss...in order that [we] may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8).
We thank God for this church, for each member and visitor, present and future. May God richly bless you, and may He continue to richly bless this work here in Traverse City and the work of His Church to the ends of the earth.
Pastor Dan Millward and the Elders
Redeemer Presbyterian Church stands in the tradition of Reformation faith and practice. The following sections contain a brief summary of the historic doctrines, principles, and practices upon which Redeemer Presbyterian Church was founded.
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The vision for Redeemer Presbyterian Church began with a small group of people who deeply desired a biblically and historically faithful church committed to the Reformed perspective. Through much prayer and perseverance, and under the care of Covenant Presbyterian Church of Holland, Michigan, our first Sunday morning worship service took place on July 4, 2004.
On April 24, 2005, Redeemer Presbyterian Church officially became a “particular church” of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
The PCA is a denomination that was formed in an effort to champion the biblical and confessional doctrines of the historic Reformed faith, and to stand against the current trend of compromising those things. At the time of the PCA’s formation, many mainline Presbyterian churches, as well as many other mainline denominations, were no longer standing firm on beliefs such as Sola Scriptura (the belief that the Scriptures are the authoritative and infallible written word of God) or the historic confession of Presbyterianism (the Westminster Confession of Faith). Therefore, in 1973, 260 Churches left the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) and formed the PCA. The PCA has maintained its original convictions and commitment to both Scripture and the Westminster Standards. Now with over 3200 congregations, the PCA is one of the fastest growing denominations in the country.
As a member church of the PCA, our church government or polity follows the presbyterian model. This means that our local church is governed by a session. The session is made up of the teaching and ruling elders elected by the congregation. Above the local session, there is the regional presbytery, which is comprised of teaching and ruling elders from all local congregations in the region. Finally, there is the General Assembly, which is comprised of teaching and ruling elders from all PCA churches in the country. This system provides an umbrella of authority, accountability, and protection for both laypersons and church officers. By utilizing this biblical method for governing the affairs of the church, we are afforded a means for settling doctrinal and practical issues in an orderly and thorough manner.
Redeemer Presbyterian Church is a confessional church. This means that we confess our belief in Jesus Christ with conviction, and also that we are guided in our faith and practice by certain historic Christian creeds and confessions. Creeds and confessions are simply statements of faith written in the past by wise, godly Christians. We believe these written statements are accurate and helpful summaries of what the Bible teaches.
As a Christian church, ancient statements such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed help us to confess certain basic and essential truths of the Christian faith.
As a Presbyterian church, our confessional or doctrinal standards consist of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms (copies of these documents are available from the church).
Of course, the authority of our written confessions is subordinate to the authority of the Bible, which is God's uniquely inspired Word. The Bible is our ultimate rule and standard of faith and life. It is the source of all that we believe and do as a church. But our confessions help us to interpret Scripture wisely and to remain faithful to what Christians have believed for thousands of years.
In order to be a member at Redeemer Presbyterian Church, one must affirm the evangelical doctrine that salvation is accomplished by grace alone through faith alone in of Christ alone as revealed in Scripture alone.
As mentioned earlier, Redeemer Presbyterian Church adheres to the Westminster Confession and Catechisms as its statement of faith. These confessions teach a theology that may be defined as catholic, evangelical, and reformed.
Our theology is “catholic,” which means “universal” or “worldwide,” because it is not limited to any one ethnic group, geographical location, or period of time. Instead, our theology affirms the accepted teachings of historic Christianity, such as those defined by the Apostles’ Creed and the great ecumenical councils of the first millennium of Christian history (i.e., the councils of Nicea, Chalcedon, Constantinople, and others). These doctrines include such essential beliefs as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement of Christ, and other teachings that are integral to historic Christianity.
Our theology is “evangelical” because it affirms and proclaims the Gospel (“good news”) of Jesus Christ as the heart and soul of the Christian message. This good news focuses on the person and work of Jesus Christ, who has provided forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life.
Our theology is “reformed” because it affirms the distinctive doctrines of the early Reformers, such as Luther, Calvin, and Knox. Generally speaking, Reformed theology focuses foundationally on the glory of God and is undergirded by three prominent emphases: the sovereignty of God, a covenantal framework, and the gracious nature of salvation.
- God’s sovereignty refers to God’s supreme rule and authority over the entire universe. This sovereignty is expressed, exercised, and displayed in the divine plan for and outworking of the history of salvation and is carried out though God’s works of providence.
- The biblical concept of covenant involves many things but can be summarized as a bond in blood (i.e. a bond of life and death) that is sovereignly administered. God initiates and governs the nature of the covenant as He establishes a relationship with His people. Through this relationship of love and faithfulness, God bestows blessings as He carries out His redemptive plan.
- Grace refers to the undeserved and unearned nature of our relationship with God. Because of the generous overflow of the Father’s love toward the Son, human beings are recipients of God’s love. This love is most clearly demonstrated to humans through God’s selfless giving of His Son to enable people to enter into a loving relationship with God as they are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The historical context of the Reformation involved serious disagreements with the Church of Rome over certain doctrines and traditions. In an effort to return the church to a proper foundation, the Reformers sought to clarify biblical teaching in key areas of belief and practice. The chief areas of reform can be summarized by what is sometimes referred to as the five solas of the Protestant Reformation (“sola” is Latin for “alone” or “only”).
Sola gratia ("grace alone"): Salvation comes by grace only, not through any merit on the part of the sinner. The sinner does not earn or deserve God’s mercy and forgiveness; it is given freely as a gift.
Sola fide ("faith alone"): Justification (that is, being declared guiltless before God) is received only through faith. It is not the result of good works or the efforts of the sinner. Even the faith itself is a gift from God.
Sola scriptura ("Scripture alone"): The Bible is the only inspired and authoritative Word of God and is self-interpreting (Scripture interprets Scripture). Although traditions can be good and profitable, they must be informed by the Scriptures. Only the Bible provides the rule for faith and practice in the Christian church and life.
Solus Christus ("Christ alone"): Christ is the exclusive mediator between God and man. It is only because of His perfect, sinless life and atoning death that any sinner can be right with God. Neither Mary, the saints, nor priests (other than Christ, our great High Priest) can act as our mediator in bringing salvation.
Soli Deo gloria ("Glory to God alone"): Since salvation is accomplished solely and entirely through His works, all glory, honor, and praise is due to God alone.
Church life at Redeemer emphasizes being part of God’s covenant community. In this community, we find a rich and rewarding experience as we participate in worship. We understand worship to be a meeting with God where He calls us into His presence to receive the gifts of His grace in Word and Sacrament. To emphasize this aspect, we often refer to our worship services as “The Lord’s Service.” But worship also involves our response to God’s gifts of grace through our actions and words of praise, prayer, giving of tithes and offerings, and so on. The gathering together of believers as the people of God also provides a wonderful opportunity for joyful expressions of fellowship among Christians.
Because of our understanding of the covenant community and the nature of the Christian life, we include our children, even young children, in our worship services. Though this can be somewhat distracting at times, we believe our children are part of our covenant community, and thus should, from an early age, be part of and made familiar with the most significant gathering of that community: worship. Also, emphasis is not on program-oriented service. In other words, we do not see programs as ends to themselves, but rather as a means to serve various ends (real needs within or outside the church).
In the brief sections that follow, we have highlighted a few of the particular ways in which our beliefs are lived out in the life of our church. For additional details on any of these, or for information about other aspects of Christian life and community, please contact the pastor or one of our elders or deacons (view our contact information).
Worship and the Means of Grace
We believe that the church’s worship is the place where God Himself meets with us in a unique and special way. Worship is where God distributes His life-giving Word and Sacraments. It is also the place where we respond to these precious gifts with great reverence through our offerings of thanksgiving and praise.
For this reason, we believe that the corporate worship gathering should contain certain components, which are derived from Scripture and faithful historical practice. (You can view these components in detail by clicking HERE.)
The worship at Redeemer Presbyterian Church is liturgical in nature. This simply means that our services use a historic structure that helps to convey biblical truth.
In addition to providing an easy-to-follow, orderly format for our worship services, there are numerous benefits to such a structure. For example, the weekly repetition of liturgical elements and the resulting familiarity is an effective way of teaching certain basics of the Christian faith. A common “liturgical language” that speaks of sin and grace, repentance and forgiveness, God’s actions and our responses, etc., presents a powerful message and continually invites us to further reflection and devotion.
