Our Beliefs
Our Vision
Heartland Presbyterian Church is a Christ-centered community called to provide opportunities for creative and inclusive worship, spiritual growth, and service. We welcome any searching member of the community, no matter where you are in your faith journey, regardless of age, race, gender or sexual orientation.
Our Calling
We are called to connect to God;
to connect to each other;
and to connect to the “Other”
What is a Presbyterian?
Being Presbyterian means that you accept Jesus Christ into your heart as your Lord and Savior. As is true for all Presbyterian (USA) churches, the only requirement of faith for all believers is this belief. While there are broad variations in what individual Presbyterians may believe, there are several “essential tenets” of the Presbyterian faith.
- God is Sovereign over all of creation.
- God chooses people for service as well as for salvation.
- As faithful stewards, we shun ostentation and seek to properly use God’s creation.
- All human beings sin.
- We are called to work for justice, transform society and live in obedience to the Word of God.
We are to focus on God’s grace in Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture. The protestant watchwords – grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone – embody principles of understanding that continue to guide and motivate the people of God in the life of faith.
Heartland Presbyterian Church is part of the Presbyterian Church USA, the largest Presbyterian denomination in the USA. We identify with the theological family called the Reformed church which has its roots in the work of John Calvin, a sixteenth century reformer.
What Does Being Presbyterian Mean?
As a Reformed faith, being Presbyterian focuses on a number of central ideas.
Grace is the Word!
We understand salvation and the love of God to be a gift, unmerited and unearned. This gift is given by God freely and without restrictions out of the abundance of God’s love for all humanity in Christ. We are wary of any theology that emphasizes works righteousness whether it be certain right actions or right words.
Gratitude and not Guilt
Our response to this gift is not from a sense of guilt, but from a place of gratitude. We joyfully worship and serve in a spirit of thanksgiving for God’s Grace. We do not strive for good lives as a way to get into heaven, but rather as a grateful expression of our love for God.
Community is Essential
We live out our love for God not in isolation but as part of a community of faith. Our love of God cannot be separated from our love for the neighbor. The Spirit of God is present when two or more gather together in God’s name.
Reformed Always Reforming
Since God’s love is a gift and unearned, we embrace a humility always open to being transformed. Conversion for us is a lifetime process springing from the grace gifted to us in Jesus Christ. Part of this humility is an openness to changing our minds and deepening our understanding of God.
Grounded through Holy Scripture
God speaks to us through scriptures where we encounter Christ in the stories, gospels, letters, poems, songs, and prophetic writings thousands of years old. We take the Bible seriously in using historical critical tools to understand the meaning of a text in the time it was written. We do not hold to one single interpretation as the only true interpretation. In fact, we encourage a wide variety of voices in the community to interpret a passage together.
Baptism by Community
Baptism for us is an act of God done through the community. Baptism is God’s claim on an individual not because they deserve or have earned this claim, but out of God’s mysterious grace. We baptize infants reminding us that God’s Grace often comes to us long before we recognize it. Baptism is as much about the promises the church makes to the child as it is the promises of the parents.
Open Communion
We believe the body of Christ is present in the sharing of bread and cup when the community gathers at the Lord’s Table. This presence is manifested in communion in this joyful feast of all God’s children. We practice open communion in which all are invited to participate who yearn for God’s grace.
Warm Hospitality
We welcome any searching members of the community no matter where you are in your faith journey regardless of age, race, gender, or sexual orientation.