Article 6: The Church

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local

congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the

gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts,

rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the

ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through

democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to

Christ as Lord. Its two scriptural officers are that of pastor/elder/overseer and deacons. While

both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer

is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes

all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and

nation.