Our Beliefs

As Baptists, we do not conform to any particular creeds or doctrinal statements. However, the following is at least a general idea of the beliefs that we hold at Park View Baptist Church:

We believe in a Triune God, who initiated a relationship with us from the very beginning and continues to find new ways to love us. We believe that God's love for us was demonstrated most completely through Jesus Christ on the cross and that his resurrection offers hope and reconciliation to every person. We believe that the Holy Spirit is still moving in the dynamic work of God across all times and places.

We believe that all people are in need of grace. Our church is not a club for the perfect, but a fellowship of the forgiven.

We believe that as Christians, we are called to "worship in spirit and in truth." Our corporate worship is the most important thing we do as a body of believers. It serves as a reminder and a response to who God is and what God is doing in our lives.

We believe that being the body of Christ transcends any other labels or artificial barriers that exist in the world. Because of this belief, we are committed to including every person-- regardless of gender, age, race, or status-- in the work of the church.

We believe that in a world where people are often neglected, lonely, or isolated that we should model true intimacy in our fellowship and care for one another.

We believe that discipleship is a lifelong journey that should engage our whole self. Accordingly, we seek to foster the ongoing development of hands, hearts, and minds as we grow in wisdom and in love together.

We believe that God has ordered the world in such a way that we are allowed to participate in the ongoing work of creation. Thus, we have a responsibility to help care for our world and to serve as agents of reconciliation, peace, and justice.

We believe that we can achieve more through working with others than we can on our own. To this end, we voluntarily partner with other groups or organizations that help us fulfill our mission. Some of those groups include the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Baptist General Association of Virginia, and the Portsmouth Baptist Association. Our denominational affiliations do not restrict our freedom to exercise our local church autonomy, but are born of a longing to partner with our brothers and sisters in Christ in mutual cooperation and understanding.

What Baptists Believe

Historically, individual Baptist congregations have ranged within a variety of beliefs and practices. However, the following beliefs and practices have tended to reoccur in people calling themselves Baptists. Individually these beliefs and practices may not be unique to Baptist churches, but when considered together they suggest what it means to be Baptist.

  1. The Scriptures hold an authoritative place in the life and teaching of the church.
  2. Church membership is made up of those persons professing the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
  3. Each believer participates in a vertical and horizontal priesthood: vertical because each person has direct access to God and horizontal because each person is priest to fellow believers.
  4. Communion and baptism are ordinances whose essential character is symbolic and whose meaning is discovered in obedience.
  5. The usual mode of baptism is immersion, which captures the symbolic death, burial, and resurrection of believers.
  6. Individual congregations are independent and autonomous, meaning not subject to political or ecclesiastical regulation, yet are not full democracies because of the interdependence of congregations under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
  7. Baptists have always stressed religious freedom and separation of church and state.
  8. Baptists have always stressed each believer's responsibility for his or her own faith.