CALVARY CHAPEL BETHANY STATEMENT OF FAITH
Calvary Chapel has been formed as a fellowship of believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Our supreme desire is to know Christ, and to be conformed into His image by the power of the
Holy Spirit. We are not a denominational church, nor are we opposed to denominations as
such, only the over-emphasis of the doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the
Body of Christ.
· We believe the only true basis of Christian fellowship is Christ's (Agape) love, which is
greater than any differences we possess, and without which we have no right to claim
ourselves Christians.
· We believe worship of God should be spiritual. Therefore, we remain flexible and
yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship.
· We believe worship of God should be inspirational. Therefore, we give a great place to
music in our worship.
· We believe worship of God should be intelligent. Therefore, our services are designed
with great emphasis upon teaching of the Word of God that He might instruct us how
He should be worshiped.
· We believe worship of God should be fruitful. Therefore, we look for His love in our
lives as the supreme manifestation that we have been truly worshipping Him.
· We believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, in
the original autographs, is the inspired, infallible Word of God, a complete and final
written revelation of God.
· We believe in one personal, transcendent, and holy God, the creator of all.
· Who is eternal, and Who manifests Himself in three separate persons: Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
· We believe that Jesus Christ, though fully God, became a man for the suffering of
death, that He is the promised Messiah, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided
for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the Cross, was bodily
resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the
Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us. After Jesus ascended to Heaven, He
poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His
command to preach the Gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers
today.
· We believe that all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their
own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ
as personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is immediately born
again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person
becomes a child of God.
· We believe in the person and work of the Holy Spirit who indwells, seals, and
empowers every believer, baptizing them into the Body of Christ. We further believe
that the Holy Spirit will come upon any believer who asks in faith, enabling him/her to
preach the Gospel in power. We also believe all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit
mentioned in the Scriptures are valid for today if they are exercised within the
scriptural guidelines. We believe that love is more important than all the gifts, and
without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.
· We believe Jesus Christ is the head of the Body, His church, and that church
government should be simplistic rather than a complex bureaucracy. We desire to be
lead by the Holy Spirit in all the functions and directions of the ministry of the church.
· We await the pre-tribulational rapture of the church, and we believe that the second
coming of Christ with His saints to rule on the earth will be personal, pre-millennial,
and visible. This motivates us to holy living, heartfelt worship, committed service,
diligent study of God's Word, regular fellowship, and participation in baptism by
immersion and in Holy Communion.
· We seek the Word of God in such a way that it's message can be applied to an
individual's life, leading that person to greater maturity in Christ.
· We reject doctrinal viewpoints or spiritual phenomena which are based solely on
experience. We look to the Word of God for the basis of all our faith and practice.
· We believe in a personal devil called Satan who, along with all his evil angels, called
demons, is destined to spend eternity in hell, and who now seeks to deceive the
believers and defeat the work of God, but who can be resisted by believers who are indwelt
by the Holy Spirit, protected by God, and interceded for by Jesus Christ our
Lord.
· We believe that the nation of Israel has a special place in God's plan and that all the
promises of God to Israel will be fulfilled.
· We believe that marriage is exclusively the legal union of one man and one woman.
We also believe that legitimate biblical sexual relations are exercised solely within
marriage. Hence, sexual activities, such as, but not limited to, adultery, fornication,
incest, polygamy, homosexuality, transgender, bisexuality, cross dressing, pedophilia
and bestiality are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the Church.
Additionally, lascivious behavior, the creation and/or distribution and/or viewing of
pornography, and efforts to alter one's gender, are incompatible with a true biblical
witness.
· Every pastor, pastoral assistant, minister, board member, employee, member or
volunteer shall be in good standing and affirm his or her unequivocal agreement with
this Statement of Faith. A pastor, pastoral assistant, minister, board member, employee
or volunteer whose confession of faith or behavior is in conflict with this Statement of
Faith, will be subject to removal and termination from his or her position in the church.