Baptist Identity
Pritchard Church is a Baptist church (our full legal name is “Pritchard Memorial Baptist Church”, yeah, we thought it was a mouthful too!). Baptists have historically been non-creedal people who value individual liberty and recognize that each human being has the right and responsibility to work out their beliefs and convictions in relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, informed by the Old and New Testaments. Because of our position as Baptists in a classical sense, we do not have an exhaustive statement of beliefs that details every nuance of faith, but instead hold to four major pillars of historical Baptist theology, which are:
The Authority of Scripture
We hold to the 66 book Protestant canon of scripture as the inspired and authoritative, written record of God’s revelation to human beings. The fullness of God’s revelation is his son, Jesus Christ, who is the center and lens through which the Bible is meant to be understood. Jesus is the ultimate authority in the universe, and the Bible bears witness to him.
The Priesthood of All Believers
Each human being that follows Jesus has the right and also the responsibility to interact with God, to interpret scripture, and to share God’s grace with others. Jesus did not intend or leave a hierarchy among his followers, but instead the greatest seek to serve. Each Christian is part of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ.
The Autonomy of the Local Church
Every local church has the liberty to create its own structure, polity, rules, ordinances, practices, and traditions. Baptists do not believe other groups of Christians should hold authority over one another, but that instead each church is made up of those who have voluntarily decided to participate together. Churches may also decide to make up organizations, fellowships, and conventions in order to share the good news of Jesus Christ, to cooperate for missions, and to more effectively organize for administrative purposes. However, those organizations are not binding, nor are they meant to hold authority over one another.
Freedom of Religion
Pritchard Church and all historical Baptists have affirmed the right of every person to decide his or her own religion and affiliation. We do not believe the government should interfere with any church activities, nor do we believe the church should endorse political candidates, positions, or particular political parties. We believe each American citizen should have the freedom to choose a religion to practice, or to choose to have no religion. We believe this is one way we can truly “treat others the way we would have them treat us.”
Beyond these things we believe that there is freedom to disagree but to continue fellowship and worship in unity because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He did not save us by our perfect, finished doctrinal statements, but by his sufficient, saving grace. He saved us to a whole new life!