We simply strive to help each other be more like Jesus so that we can make our community more like Heaven. Church shouldn’t be complicated. We are anchored in historic New Testament Christianity, we continually seek to keep Jesus at the center, and we believe that culture is to be joyfully engaged not feared. We accomplish these objectives by gathering with each other, worshipping our God, and serving our community.
Our core values focus on being anchored, centered, and engaged. In order to accomplish our mission of making Springfield more like Heaven we gather, worship, and serve.
We are anchored in New Testament Christianity with a focus on the person of Jesus Christ, the power of resurrection, and the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven.
We continually seek to stay centered on the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. We take Jesus at his word when he said that the two things that matter most are loving God and loving our neighbors.
We believe that culture is something, not to be feared, but to be joyfully engaged with. We seek to be engaged in the world of ideas and in the physical world in which we live. Our tagline is Think.Believe.Act. We believe that intellectual honesty and faith go together.
Spiritual growth doesn’t happen alone, it happens in the context of community. Gathering together was a key factor in the stength of the early church and it’s an important part of what we do as a church. We are a welcoming community for all who wish to gather with us.
We believe that worship is participatory, not something to be watched but something to be done. Our worship is centered around a weekly celebration of the Lord’s Table. Worship services include practical Bible teaching, a contemporary blend of hymns and praise music, and spiritual practices both new and old.
Thinking and believing should lead to actions that bless others. One sign of a church’s strength is the degree to which it helps its most vulnerable neighbors to flourish. Self-sacrifice and community service are essential to authentic Christianity.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…
I CORINTHIANS 15:3-4
Our beliefs are shaped by the example of Jesus, the teaching of scripture, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Instead of a long doctrinal statement that determines who is in and who is out, we prefer to focus on simply defining our central beliefs and inviting all to follow Jesus. Our beliefs correspond to the earliest Christian creeds that outlined New Testament Christianity.
• We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word.
• We believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• We believe in salvation by faith in Christ.
• We believe in the reality of Christ’s resurrection.
• We believe in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Central is a church anchored in historic New Testament Christianity. We seek to center ourselves around the example and teachings of Jesus Christ. Our core beliefs include belief in the Holy Trinity; the resurrection of Jesus, the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven, the inspiration of scripture, and salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. In these areas we expect unity.
In all other areas of doctrine where we grant people the liberty to hold a variety of beliefs. And in all areas, we seek to extend charity to those with whom we may disagree.
We believe that it is God’s inspired story about his plan to redeem the world through Jesus Christ. We believe that it, along with the example of Jesus, serves as God’s Word instructing us how to come to God and live lives that please him and advance his Kingdom. The leading of the Holy Spirit and our God-given capacity for reason also help us discover God’s truth.
We don’t have an official position approving or denying Charismatic gifts because we do not view them as an essential church doctrine, rather we see them as an area where Godly people may disagree. It is not our practice to seek the expression of things like speaking in tongues in our worship services.
We require faith in Christ and baptism for church membership. As a church, we practice believers baptism by immersion but we do not require people who have been previously baptized to be re-baptized to join the church.
We do not endorse political parties or individual candidates. We do address political topics when they deal with areas that are addressed in scripture. For example, the Bible is very clear that God loves immigrants and refugees, and expects us to as well. However, it does not lay out specific policies. We respect people’s right to differ on policy so long as their positions reflect the love of Christ.
For the most part people dress very casually. We believe scripture places very little emphasis on outward appearance. In fact, it warns us about showing any sort of favoritism based on one’s dress.
We think that baptism is an extremely important part of becoming a follower of Jesus. We baptize children and adults after they have made a decision to follow Jesus. We baptize people by immersion, usually at the very beginning of a Sunday morning worship service. We welcome people into membership who have faith in Jesus and who have been baptized, not asking people to be rebaptized if they were already baptized by any means in another church.
We believe that creativity is one way that we bear the image of God, and that God enjoys receiving worship in many different styles. Overall, we have a contemporary approach to worship but that does not keep us from incorporating worship practices that have been around for centuries.
Central values women and views them as equal participants in the leadership of our church. At Central women can serve on our board of Elders, preach on Sunday mornings, and serve in any capacity of Church leadership.
We desire to be a church that welcomes the LGBTQ community to join us in worship. Those who have experienced faith in Christ and baptism may join the church and serve in any capacity that matches their gifts and qualifications.
Part of the culture of our church is to welcome people with a wide range of opinions on many issues. There are only five areas where Central has taken an official position;1) We believe the Bible, 2) We believe in the Holy Trinity, 3) We believe in the resurrection, 4)We believe in the Kingdom of Heaven, and 5) We believe in salvation by faith in Jesus. Central welcomes people with varying views on same sex marriage. We are untited in our commitment to invite LGBTQ people come and join us in worship, and we are committed to providing space where imortant personal issues like same sex marriage can be discussed in a context of love and mutual repsect. We have encouraged those with more progressive views not to look down on more conservative members, and we have asked our more conservative members not to judge those who fully support same sex marraige. Here are three sermons outlining how we have approached this topic.
LGBTQ Conversation 1: Why Now?
LGBTQ Conversation 2: Why is this up for debate?LGBTQ
Conversation 3: How the early church respond disputes like this.
We support LGBTQ couples who wish to enter a covenant of marriage by matching them with a member of our Elder leadership team who will assist them with their wedding.
Central is a welcoming place of worship for all who aspire to heed Jesus’ call to love God and love our neighbors. This is what is happening at Central right now!
Plan Your Visit
