At Church in the Canyon, our mission is to foster spiritual growth and maturity through Biblical preaching, Christ-centered worship, and genuine fellowship. We aim to glorify God and expand His Kingdom by nurturing faith,
encouraging evangelism, and engaging in compassionate acts, as guided by the Holy Spirit.
Statement of Faith
We believe that the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the written word of God, and is without error in its original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth to mankind, His image-bearers, and is the only infallible and authoritative rule in all matters of faith and practice.
We believe in the Holy Trinity- One True Triune God who eternally exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God in essence, and three in Personhood. Each Person of the Trinity is fully God and equally God; equal in nature, in attributes and in glory, alike to be worshiped, glorified, and obeyed.
We believe that all people are sinners in need of salvation, and that all alike are totally unable to save themselves from God’s displeasure, and incapable of doing anything to earn or merit God’s mercy or favor.
We believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. God sovereignly chooses those whom He will save based solely upon His grace, and not by any human’s individual merit, or foreseen faith.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who, through His perfect life and sacrificial death on the cross, atoned for the sins of all who will trust in Him alone for salvation, and that there is no salvation for anyone apart from faith in Him.
We believe that true, saving faith is always accompanied by new life in Christ and that God is gracious and faithful to His people, not simply as individuals, but as families in successive generations, according to His Covenant promises, and that the Holy Spirit indwells God’s people, giving them the strength and wisdom to trust Christ and follow Him into repentance and good works.
We believe that all aspects of our lives ought to be lived Corum Deo, before the face of God to His Glory, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and enabled by the Power of His Holy Spirit.
We believe that Jesus Christ will return bodily and visibly, in glory, to judge all mankind, both living and dead, and will receive His own people to Himself, but those who have forsaken Him He will devote to eternal condemnation.
We believe, therefore, that it is a matter of great urgency for us to put our own faith in Jesus Christ, and knowing that the whole number of God’s elect is known only to God, but is entirely secret and not knowable by us, we ought to tenderly and humbly preach Christ to every person under heaven until that great day of His appearing.
Creeds & Doctrines
As a confessional church, we believe that the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms contain a faithful summary of biblical doctrine. As such these are an invaluable help to us in studying and applying the scriptures, but we nonetheless insist that the scriptures of the Old and New Testament are “the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy [God].” We also use both the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds in worship as a means of affirming the historic, Christian faith with countless other Christians from across the centuries and around the globe.
As a credal and confessional Reformed church, it is our deep desire to be a church where the Lord Jesus is both known and made known–where we are all called into closer fellowship with him and commissioned to go out into the world as witnesses to his resurrection.
Denomination
As a church family, we belong to the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) – a community of believers with congregations across the USA and Canada. This membership gives us the ability to take part in mission work in every part of the world.
PCA churches are on every continent and our ministries include Bible translation, schools, and medical facilities. And we have a number of short-term denominational mission projects where laypeople (teenagers, singles, and families) may serve in these and other ministries throughout the world.
The PCA has a fully accredited graduate training seminary for pastors, missionaries, biblical counselors and Christian educators ( Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis). We also have a first-rate liberal arts college that schools collegians in a thoroughly Christian world and life view ( Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Georgia).