Covenant Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church is a congregation in Jacksonville, North Carolina that strives to do all things for the glory of God. The Apostle Paul stated that “whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God“. Worship is our highest priority and it is all for God’s glory. This includes our corporate worship which we are called to do. Our worship servic
es must be God-centered and reflect the Psalmist who writes, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord , our Maker!” (Ps 95:6)
We are also a body of believers that adheres to the Scriptures as the only rule of faith and practice. We stand firmly on the truth that the Bible is God-breathed and is His inerrant and infallible Word given to His people. The entirety of the Bible points to the person and work of Jesus Christ and unfolds God’s plan of redemption. Covenant ARP, a congregation of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, is a Bible-believing church which seeks to exalt and to glorify the name of Jesus Christ. We take seriously the historic Christian faith as it is summarized in various creeds such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. We especially subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger Catechism, and the Westminster Shorter Catechism, commonly and collectively called the Westminster Standards. We believe that the Westminster Standards, though secondary to Scripture, are accurate and detailed summaries of what the Bible teaches. We are Covenantal, which refers to the covenantal promise that God makes to those who trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. We are Reformed, which refers to our heritage from the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century when the church was reformed according to Scripture. The main teachings of the Protestant Reformation can be summarized in what are called the 5 Solas: Sola Scriptura (Scripture is our only and final authority), Solus Christus (salvation is by Christ alone), Sola fide (salvation comes through faith alone in Christ alone), Sola gratia (salvation is by grace alone), and soli Deo Gloria (glory belongs to God alone). We are Presbyterian, which means that our church is ruled by Elders (together with the Pastor). The word ‘presbyter’ stems from the New Testament Greek term presbuteros. A presbytery oversees our church, along with other churches in our region. We belong to what is called Grace Presbytery (which itself is part of our larger denomination: the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church).
