fccathens

What We Believe

WHO ARE WE?

We are a church seeking to be God's people with participation by all ages. We now have gone to one worship event to serve the needs of our faith community. First Christian Church, Athens is a congregation that is over 100 years old and continues to participate in the life of our community which extends from Malakoff and Cedar Creek Lake area over to Brownsboro.  We are located next to South Elementary School on Robbins Road.

Who are the Disciples?
The movement began in frontier America in the early 1800's. Today more than 700 thousand people are members of Disciples churches in North America alone. Original Disciples came from Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist and other backgrounds with a desire to do away with divisive creeds and practices. Their plea was the unity of all Christians on the basis of no creed but Christ and no book but the Bible. We are also a people who seek UNITY in Christ instead of division over denominational division and theology.

WHAT WE BELIEVE:
To unite with the Church- we have only one confession (the great confession) that we ask of any person wishing to unite with the church: Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and do you trust him to be Lord and Savior.

Open Communion:
The Lord's Supper, or Communion, is celebrated in weekly worship, and it is open to all who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Oneness of Fellowship:
All Christians are called to be one in Christ and to seek opportunities for common witness and service. In addition we seek the unity of all believers as we seek our common purpose of loving God and loving others as we serve in Jesus' name.

Freedom of Belief
As Disciples, we are called together around two essentials of faith: a belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and that Christians are free to follow their conscience guided by Bible study, the Holy Spirit and prayer. We are expected to extend that freedom to others. We have no creed but Christ and we have no book but the Bible. We have no formal statement of faith, but we believe in God's Word (THE BIBLE) as our guide in faith and practice. We believe that the Bible is God's inspired word for today. By inspired, we believe as members of FCC, that God breathed life into the word so that it is as relevant today as it was when it was written.

Baptism by Immersion
In baptism the old self-centered life is set aside and washed away, and a new life of trust in God begins. Although Disciples practice baptism by immersion, other baptism traditions are honored.

OUR MISSION is to turn seekers of God into Disciples of Jesus Christ, who go and make Disciples!