Position Papers
Providence Scripture Catechism
An Introduction to Biblical Christianity
ABSTRACT What is Catechesis? Well for most people it just sounds like something Roman Catholics do. If you grew up in an active Roman Catholic family you probably went to CCD at some point. For many evangelical Christians, anything that sounds Roman Catholic does not sound very interesting either. To many people’s surprise however the term comes from the New Testament word κατηχέω, which simply means to instruct or inform. In Luke 1:4 when Luke is introducing his Gospel to Theophilus he says, “so that you may know for certain the things you were taught.” The word translated as “taught” is the same Greek word. And in Luke 1:4 it actually refers to a body of systematic teaching in the Christian faith. Early on, the Church developed a process for instructing children of the faithful and new converts in the basic beliefs and expectations of the Christian faith. This process became known as catechesis and such documents became known as catechisms. So many of us may also describe it as discipleship.
Download TheProvidenceScriptureCatechism_Draft.pdf (425.49 KB)Who Should Be Baptized?
A Position Paper on Sacred Journey’s Application
of The Historic Practice of Including Children in the Covenant Community
Listen to the discussion
Choosing A Church
Gospel Principles For finding a Healthy Gospel community
ABSTRACT We live in a very transient culture where people, unlike previous generations rarely remain in the same job, much less live in the same place for their whole life. In fact the average western family will move several times during the years of raising their children. This transience has become is no less a problem for the local church than any other life category. On top of this, because of the uncontrolled fragmentation of Christian denominations since the Second Great Awakening, this has lead to an untold number of choices for the Christian to choose from. When you take these, plus all the unhealthy reasons people leave their current churches, this leaves way too many opportunities for the average Christian family to have to seek out and choose a new church.Forms of Unity
Are Creeds and Confessions Un-biblical and Divisive?
ABSTRACT Creeds and confessions have been a long standing expression of biblical faith and a tool of the Church to maintain doctrinal purity. They not only appear early in the post apostolic church, but they are found numerously within the pages of the Bible and have always served as a staple of our Judeo-Christian faith traditions. Unfortunately, these useful tools have fallen on hard times, especially within the modern evangelical church. Many treat them as impositions and restrictive, simply because they do not understand them. In this short article, pastor Todd Murphy explores the question of creeds and confessions both doctrinally and practically demonstrating how they are not only biblical and useful, but provide an excellent counterbalance against theological error.Leading in Prayer
The Power and Importance of Worship and Worship Leadership
ABSTRACT "Leading In Prayer" is a short position paper on worship with a particular focus on the corporate gathering of the local church and the conversation we have with God in song. The premise of the paper is to establish the unique place of corporate worship without minimizing the daily worship of the believer while demonstrating the extremely critical role that the communion with God in song has. Also within the discussion we discuss how true worship is based upon a humble posture toward God and not the petty disagreements of the so called "worship wars." Yet within this there is still a challenge to seriously consider cultural contextualization for helping the modern worship experience intelligible and profitable to all.
