:: what we believe ::

John's ministry has an extensive theological focus. For simplicity in summary, we affirm the creedal confessions of the ancient ecumenical church, primarily the Nicene Creed and Chalcedonian definition:

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one being with the Father, through whom all things were made:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man;
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father;
And He is again coming with glory to judge the living and the dead,
Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father {and the Son*}, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets; in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, And the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 AD)

We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a rational soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.
Definition of Chalcedon (451 AD)
 

*We recognize the Filioque clause is a point of contention among the East and West, and therefore point to the Reformed-Orthodox Agreed Statement on the Holy Trinity as a valuable aim at rapprochement in getting behind the impasse


John Crowder, 11/28/2008