Who Are We?

Christ Church, ARP is a mission work in the Denver NC area, an ever growing locale on the west side of Lake Norman. This area is a part of the larger Charlotte, NC region.

 

This mission effort is the vision of the session and members of the Coddle Creek ARP Church in Mooresville. In celebration of the church’s 250th anniversary, the congregation decided to daughter a church. The Coddle Creek church is providing needed funds and some families to help in the start of this church.

The mother church, Coddle Creek and the daughter mission, Christ Church ARP are both a part of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian denomination.

 

So who are the Associate Reformed Presbyterians, & what is the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church?

 

The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church was formed when the Reformed Presbyterians (also called Covenanters) merged with the Associate Presbytery in 1783. This was one of the first churches in the United States, organized soon after the close of the American Revolution.

 

The Covenanters and Reformed Presbyterians brought with them the Westminster Confession of Faith, loyalty to the Bible, and a fierce integrity. Once that was joined with the Associate Presbytery's emphasis on local control and more congregational freedom, a distinctly new and different type of church was formed in the United States.

 

Today, the ARP Church is still centered largely in the southeastern United States, but you will find us from Canada to Mexico, from California to Pakistan. In a day of great denominational decline the ARP Church is growing steadily every year as God has richly blessed it. We encourage you to consider prayerfully making the ARP your new church home.

We are evangelical

There are certain fundamentals

To say that we are evangelical means that we take our stand with all those who believe in what used to be called "the fundamentals": the existence of the triune God, the deity of Jesus, the virgin birth, and substitutionary and vicarious atonement of Christ, the physical resurrection of Christ, the sure return of Christ, and the infallibility and divine authority of the Bible which is a faithful and true guide to what we are to believe and how we are to live. We joyfully affirm our unity with those from every tradition and denomination who hold to these fundamentals including those true believers in Christ who, for whatever reasons, find themselves members of denominations or churches with which we might have certain disagreements.

We are evangelistic

We take the great Commission seriously

This means we take seriously the Great Commission, "Go and make disciples of all nations." Without compromising the sovereignty of God, we affirm the responsibility of each person to repent and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and our responsibility to extend the Gospel invitation as a call to salvation to everyone who hears its message. We invite all, without distinction, to drink freely of the Water of Life and to live eternally. In this way, we seek to "extend the transforming presence of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ."

We are reformed

We have theological distinctives (tulip)

The word "reformed" can be defined simply in two ways: 1) It is a reference to our historical link to the Reformation of the 16th century and intends to describe us as the heirs of that tradition which comes from Luther, Calvin, Knox and other reformers. 2) The word "reformed" is used most commonly to refer to certain theological distinctives which have marked reformation believers, particularly those in the Calvinist tradition.

These distincitives can be summarized by our glad affirmation of the responsibility of every person to repent and believe, and that it is God who, by His sovereign electing grace, draws men and women, otherwise dead in sin, to faith in His Son. By this faith alone are God's people justified.

Reformed distinctives include the sovereignty of God in His creation, providence and election of believers apart from any merit of their own; the irresistible grace of God provided for and preceding the faith of the individual; the sufficiency of God's grace apart from which man is dead in sin and wholly defiled in all his faculties of soul and body; the efficacy of Christ's death for all those who believe in Him by grace; the safe-guarding of all those for whom Christ died for eternal life.

We seek to hold to our reformed convictions humbly, recognizing the sincerity and earnestness of Godly men and women who have other positions.

We are confessional

We have a written confession of faith

This means that we have a written confession of faith which we believe to be a good and accurate summary of the Bible's teaching. Our confession consists of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. These documents are not without flaw; yet we believe they do contain carefully worded summaries of the Bible's content. All ruling and teaching elders in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP) must vow that they hold to these standards and are required to indicate to their presbyteries or sessions where they take exceptions.

We are covenantal

The foundational framework for understanding the Bible is the covenant of grace initiated by God.

To say we are covenantal means we believe that the unifying principle of the Scriptures is the one covenant of grace that God made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and finally, and most importantly, in Jesus Christ. The covenant is a pledge or bond of loyalty which God made to His people through each of the above named persons. The covenant is a relationship of loving loyalty that God has initiated with us as His people throughout human history. To speak of the unity of the covenants means that there is one way and one way only to salvation in both Old and New Testaments-that is, by faith alone in Jesus Christ. This covenantal understanding of the Bible is in distinction from any system of organizing the Scriptures which would attribute differing ways of salvation to a succession of historical Biblical eras.

We are Kingdom centered

We believe that God’s kingdom is not only a future reality but a present one as well.

We believe that the Kingdom of God is not only a future hope but is also a present reality. We believe that the ascension of Jesus Christ means that He is presently reigning from Heaven and, therefore, we are called upon to honor and obey Him in every area of our personal lives and to plant the banner of Christ's Kingdom rule in every area of human endeavor. Christ's present heavenly reign is at the heart of our Purpose Statement as a church, that "we exist to extend the transforming presence of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ."

We are Presbyterian

We are governed by a session, a presbytery and a Synod. This word refers to our form of governance. We believe that the most clear biblical pattern is for churches to be governed by presbyters (elders) who rule jointly in what are called "church courts": sessions, presbyteries and the General Synod.