Who are we? What do we believe? What is a Presbyterian? What is Reformed? These are some of the many questions that we have received over the years. They are good, honest questions. Thankfully, people do ask these questions. Calling a group of people a church does not make them a church. Being discerning is absolutely necessary to being a Christian.

This introduction of our beliefs is not exhaustive. It is intended to answer some questions you might have and to invite you to ask new ones. You can find a more comprehensive exposition of our standards in the Westminister Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism.

We are evangelical
When we confess to be evangelical we are saying that we stand together with all others who hold to the historic orthodox fundamentals of the Christian faith: the existence of the triune God, God's creation of the world from nothing, the deity of Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, the substitutionary and vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ, the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, the sure return of Jesus Christ, and the infallibility and divine authority of the Bible which is the only guide to faith and practice. We affirm our unity with those churches and denominations that confess these fundamentals even though we may disagree on other issues.

We are evangelistic
We understand our mission is to call the unbeliever to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. We see this not as a responsibility of a few on a committee, but we see it as a call to each believer to be salt and light prepared with a reason of why we believe. We are convinced that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which people can be saved. We concur with Paul when he said, "How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?"

We are reformed
We understand the idea of being reformed in two ways. First, we are the heirs of the historical event of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Secondly, we understand ourselves as being reformed as we continue in the theological distinctives that were formed as a result of the Reformation: the sovereignty of God in creation and providence, the depravity of mankind, the sovereign work of God electing, calling, and regenerating His people, the need of each person for faith and repentance for salvation, efficacy of Christ's death for all who believe, the perseverance of the saints, and a world and life view that embraces every aspect of life as holy pursuits to the glory of God.

We are confessional
This means we have a written statement of what we believe the Bible teaches. This confession is contained in the Westminister Confession of Faith and The Larger and Shorter Catechisms. We do not believe them to be inspired or on equal level with the Word of God. They are only well studied and carefully prepared statements of faith. It is important to note that every church has some type of statement of belief whether it is formal or informal. It is an aid for the particular church to distinguish believers from nonbelievers and members from nonmembers.

All officers of the PCA must take a vow that they willfully subscribe to these doctrines. Members do not have to subscribe to every distinctive of the Confession, but only to those that are common evangelical distinctives of a Christian.

We are covenantal
We understand the relationship of God to his people to be founded upon covenant agreements. A covenant is a bond in which God condescends to initiate a loving relationship. We recognize major covenants within God's relationship with man. The first covenant was based on the works of Adam. This was initiated by God in Genesis chapter 2 and broken by Adam through his disobedience in the first half of Chapter 3. Because of the fallen state of Adam and all his posterity through the effects of sin with no hope for salvation, God initiated a second covenant relationship of Grace in Genesis 3:15 founded upon God's work of salvation.

In this second covenant of Grace, which is contained in the Old and New Testaments, we have the unifying principle through which we understand God's relationship with His people. We do recognize certain elements, which did not continue from the Old Testament to the New Testament such as those items that were shadows and types of the future reality of Jesus Christ. However, more often than not, we see a great continuity between how God dealt with the Church of the Old Testament and how God deals with the Church of the New Testament.

We believe in the visible church
We believe that the church is the visible expression of the invisible God. The church is made up of all those who profess faith in Christ and their children. Therefore we recognize the indispensable need for all Christians to formally join to a church that is the body of Christ. Through the local visible body, believers are able to grow and to mature, to exercise their spiritual gifts for the edification of the body and the building of the Kingdom, and to receive accountability, oversight, and encouragement from the officers of the church of Jesus Christ.

We are kingdom focused
We believe that after the resurrection, Jesus Christ took His place on His throne and is presently reigning. We understand the kingdom of God to be both a present and future reality. We see our responsibility to make visible the invisible kingdom of God in every area of our lives in attitude and action.

We are Presbyterian
This word refers to our form of church government. We believe that the most biblical pattern of church government is for the church to be governed by presbyters (elders). These elders are entrusted with the responsibility of spiritual oversight of the local body of believers.

We believe these distinctives are good and that most reflect the teaching of the scriptures. However, we do recognize that not all of these must be held to be a member of the church of Jesus Christ and, consequently, Northpointe PCA. To be a member of Northpointe, one must be a Christian and hold only to the most basic of evangelical beliefs.