A GLORIOUS CHURCH
Preamble
A Glorious Church is a communion of families gathered by God, united in Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to obey the great commandment and the great commission. It affirms its companionship in faith with other church bodies and all those who fear God and keep God’s commandments. A Glorious Church adheres to the affirmations of the Protestant Reformation regarding
the Bible. It confesses that the Holy Scripture, the Old and the New Testament, is the Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine and conduct. It affirms the historic confessions of the Christian Church, particularly the Apostles’ Creed, while emphasizing the sovereignty of the Word of God over all creedal interpretations. In continuity with the renewal movements of historic Pietism, A Glorious Church especially cherishes the dual emphasis on new birth and new life in Christ, believing that personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is the foundation for our mission of evangelism and Christian nurture. Our common experience of God’s grace and love in Jesus Christ continues to sustain A Glorious Church as an interdependent body of believers that recognizes but transcends our theological differences. A Glorious Church celebrates seven divinely ordained sacraments, Born-again, Water Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, Tithes and Offerings, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Great Love and The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Recognizing the reality of freedom in Christ, and in conscious dependence on the work of the Holy Spirit, we practice the believer’s baptism. A Glorious Church embraces this freedom in Christ as a gift that preserves personal conviction, yet guards against an individualism that disregards the centrality of the Word of God and the mutual responsibilities and disciplines of the spiritual community. A Glorious Church has its roots in historical Christianity, the Protestant Reformation, the Biblical instruction of the Lighthouse Rhema Ministries of Parow, Cape Town, South Africa and the great spiritual awakenings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These influences, together with more recent Southern African renewal movements, continue to shape its development and distinctive spirit. A Glorious Church is committed to reaching across boundaries of race, ethnicity, culture, gender, age and status in the cultivation of communities of life and service. A Glorious Church, in order to accomplish God’s will for His Church on Earth and in Heaven, shall be governed by God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in communion with the saints.
