What We Believe

Our Statement of Faith:

• We believe that the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, the only infallible rule for faith and life. We affirm three creeds: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed – as ecumenical expressions of the Christian faith.
• We also affirm three confessions: the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort as historic Reformed expressions of the Christian faith, whose doctrines fully agree with the Word of God.
• Along with these historic creeds and confessions, we recognize the witness of Our World Belongs to God: A Contemporary Testimony, adopted by the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church in North America as a current Reformed expression of Christian faith.

This statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and inerrant Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For purposes of Plainfield Christian Reformed Church’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, our council is the final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.

Core Convictions

Biblical Worship

We were created to worship God – to enjoy God and to glory in our Savior forever. We believe that a church must exist to worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This rules everything that we are as a congregation. Our worship services are focused on the greatness of our Savior from beginning to end. Messages preached by our pastors come directly from the Bible, and are relentlessly centered on Jesus Christ. And the members of the church strive to live their entire lives as an act of worship to God.

Open Arms to the World

We love Jesus and want the world to know, love, and trust Him as well. As a result of this desire, we reach out to our neighbors and the world with open arms. Energized by the Holy Spirit, we regularly seek to serve within our church and throughout the world. Our church supports many different missionaries in their work to tell the world about Jesus, and we would love for you to know the good news of Jesus Christ as well.

Teaching and Training

Our hope is that all members of the congregation will be fully equipped to live their whole lives for Jesus. Because of that, we work hard to make sure that children raised within this congregation are taught to know the Lord through Christ-centered Sunday school, engaging youth discipleship programs, and faithful Christian education. We have a robust small-group Bible-study ministry, and we have had the gift of being able to support and encourage future worship leaders, missionaries, and pastoral interns who are preparing to be ministers of the gospel.

Life Together

The Scriptures tell us that those who receive the Gospel message are able to become friends of God, and develop deep relationships with each other (1 John 1:3). At Plainfield CRC, we experience that fellowship in Christ as we strive to include people of all abilities, ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities. We love our God and desire to know Him better. Members of the church can often be found in extended conversations after worship services, and express care and love for each-other throughout the week. We also love our neighbors, and we enjoy whenever people in our surrounding community come and visit our events, and especially when they come and worship God with us, and join us as members in life together.

Gracious Reformed Living

Our congregation is a part of the Christian Reformed Church – a Christian tradition arising from the Protestant Reformation. As a part of this tradition we believe that we are people who have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. We believe that the Bible is our final authority for all of our life and doctrine, and we live our lives to the glory of God alone. The Reformed Confessions help us to understand the wonderful truths of Scripture, and remind us that our only comfort in life and death is our faithful savior, Jesus Christ.

Everything Belongs to God

The Lord has created everything, and He is the one who sustains all things. Because of that, everything rightly belongs to God. This means that our time, our money, and our talents all rightly belong to the One who made them and has given them to us to be used to His glory. We strive to make use of everything we have been given in a way that honors the Lord and recognizes that He is the true owner of everything entrusted to our care.