What We Believe

“Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith, and Obedient to the Great Commission.”

Salem Church (PCA) is a church of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a denomination that seeks to be “Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith, and Obedient to the Great Commission.”   

In agreement with our denomination, we seek to be faithful to the Scriptures. Salem is a Bible-believing church that holds to the full authority, inspiration, and inerrancy of the Word of God.

We are also a church that adheres to the Reformed Faith. While we join with other Bible-believing churches and traditions in confessing the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed, our theology finds particular expression in the Westminster Confession of Faith, together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms (see below). In fact the constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), which is subject to and subordinate to the Bible (i.e., The Bible is our final authority; the only infallible rule of faith and practice), consists of (1) the Westminster Confession of Faith, together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and (2) the Book of Church Order, comprising the Form of Government, the Rules of Discipline and the Directory for Worship.

Finally, Salem seeks to be obedient to the Great Commission. We are a church that seeks to disciple all of our members in the gospel of Jesus Christ, longs to see our members grow up in Christ, and hopes to see churches planted throughout the Heard County area and throughout the world.

Westminster Confession of Faith

When the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America was formed in 1788, it adopted (with minor revisions) the Westminster Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms (1647), as its secondary standards (the Bible itself being the only infallible rule of faith and practice). Officers in the Presbyterian Church in America take a vow to “sincerely receive and adopt” these confessional documents “as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures.”

The following PDF documents contain the Confession and Catechisms with full Scripture proofs (several are quite large; please wait for them to load). If you’re curious what Salem’s position is on a number of theological issues, we preach, teach, and practice according to the theology of the Westminster Standards:

The Book of Church Order (BCO)

The Book of Church Order (BCO) for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) provides all the details about how we organize our church government and worship, how we hold other churches in our denomination accountable (and how we are held accountable to other churches in our denominations), and how we’re called to care for our church members. You can explore the PCA’s Book of Church Order (BCO) here.