Atlantic Community Church

 

Statement of Faith

Salvation and Ministries History Top
  1. We believe in the verbal inspiration, inerrancy and authority of God’s written word. (2 Timothy 3: 16, 2 Peter 1: 20 - 21)

  2. We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1: 27; 9: 6), but voluntarily fell from his sinless state (Genesis 3: 1 - 19). As a result, all men are sinners (Romans 5: 12; 3: 23) and hopelessly sinful in themselves (Ephesians 2: 1 - 3), apart from the grace of God. (Ephesians 2: 4 - 8)

  3. We believe that the Godhead exists eternally in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (John 10: 30); and these three are one God. (Deuteronomy 6: 4)

  4. We believe that the eternal Son of God became incarnate in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1: 1; 14; 18), conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1: 18), born of the virgin, Mary (Matthew 1: 21 - 23), and is both true God and true man (1 John 5: 20), apart from sin. (Hebrews 4: 15)

  5. We believe that salvation is received by grace alone through faith (Ephesians 2: 4 - 5; 8 - 9) in the substitutionary death of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 2: 2; 4: 10) that for our sins He died (1 Peter 3: 18; 1 Corinthians 15: 1 - 4) and was resurrected for our justification. (Romans 1: 16) (Romans 4: 25)

  6. We believe that every true believer, born of the Spirit (John 3: 5), can have full assurance of Salvation and is secure in the hands of our Savior. (John 10: 28 - 29; 1 John 5: 12 - 13)

  7.  We believe that every believer is called to a Holy life of service and should belong to a Bible-believing local church for growth, fellowship, and the furtherance of the Gospel to every creature at home and around the world.

  8. We believe in the imminent return of the Lord’s, which is the blessed hope of the church, to be followed by the tribulation and second coming of Christ, to rule and reign for one thousand years.

  9. We believe in the everlasting conscious blessedness of the saved and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost.

  10. We believe that God created marriage. It is the covenant made between a man and a woman that makes them one. The marriage covenant requires the married parties to be faithful, loving and helpful to each other as long as they both shall live. Christians are not to marry unbelievers.

    11. Those whom God had directed to be joined together, shall, after counseling with the pastor concerning what God requires of them, be joined in Christian marriage.

    This church observes the wedding ceremony as holy and unto God. It is a religious ceremony and cannot be conducted in this church without pastoral consideration. Any couple wishing to conduct their wedding ceremony in this church must first submit to pastoral counseling that is approved by this church. The couple must also live a lifestyle that is consistent with this church’s doctrinal views.

 

Salvation and Ministries

History Statement of Faith Top

Peace with God

How can a person obtain the promise of eternal life in heaven and begin the process toward spiritual maturity? Scripture teaches that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans :23). Each one of us has failed to meet God’s standard of holiness. The result of sin is death and we know that death comes to all men (Romans 5:12). But praise be to God for while we were still in the midst of our sin, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). His death on our behalf cleanses us of our sins when we accept the gift of His salvation. Then, we have eternal life (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9). To accept this gift of salvation from God:

Upon the profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit enters our lives to guide, direct, and teach us.

Baptism

Baptism by immersion is a public confession of faith and symbolizes our union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, as Paul instructs us in Romans 6:3-5. As Christ died, was buried, and arose physically, going down into the water symbolizes dying spiritually to the sinful ways of our past and our old nature (2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 2:20). Coming up out of the water symbolizes rising to the new life received when we trusted Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Joining Christ’s Church

Members are received into the Atlantic Community Church upon repentance, confession of faith in Jesus Christ, and baptism.
Members are expected to live a life that honors the Lord, to attend faithfully the services of the church, to give regular financial support to the church “as God has prospered,” and to participate in the work of the church.
To be received from another church, one must be a believer and have been baptized by immersion. A letter of transfer should be requested from the previous church.

Anointing

Anyone can call for anointing to seek God’s healing for themselves as found in James 5:13-16.
The Elders will share Scripture and offer a prayer of cleansing for the forgiveness of sin. Then anointing oil will be applied to the forehead of the sick, which is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, and offer a prayer for the specific need.

Communion

Communion or the Eucharist is usually served monthly and is open to all born-again believers. A piece of unleavened bread is distributed to remember Jesus’ body that was broken for us. Then a small cup of grape juice is taken in remembrance of Christ’s blood that was shed for the forgiveness of our sins.

Dedication of Children to the Lord

Many God-fearing parents believe children are one of God’s best gifts to them. It is fitting that parents should dedicate their children to God and pledge themselves to rear them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. During this part of the worship service, the congregation also pledges their support to the parents in prayer and encouragement. The Elders lay hands on the child and offer a prayer of dedication.

 

History

Statement of Faith Salvation and Ministries Top

The First Presbyterian Church of Atlantic, PA, was organized on November 12, 1874; incorporated as “The First Presbyterian Church of Atlantic, PA” on October 23, 1876. The building was completed and dedicated to the Lord as a House of Worship on Tuesday, January 16, 1877. The Reverend D. M. Kerr, of Mercer, PA, preached the dedication sermon using Nehemiah chapter two. This building was located below (West of) the railroad tracks in Atlantic, PA. A parsonage was obtained across the road from the church (Miller Property). The deed was recorded on September 2, 1916. Later, this property was sold.

The original First Presbyterian Church was destroyed by fire on November 5, 1965. That evening a meeting of the believers was called together, led by Reverend J. C. Gumpper, and the convening body voted to rebuild a House of Worship in Atlantic. The body of worshipers then rebuilt as a Congregational Church at the crossroads in the village of Atlantic, PA. Services were held in the I.O.O.F. building in Atlantic, until the new church was dedicated on October 13, 1968. Services are still being held as of this date at this site.

Recorded Ministers

Isaac McVitty Supply 1874 - 1876
David Ramsey Kerr First installed minister 1876 - 1879
Orlando Vance Stewart 1879 - 1881
D. A. Newell Fill-in 1882 - 1882
J. B. Fleming 1883 - 1886
J. P. Irwin 1887 - 1888
Charles A. Larimer 1890 - 1893
Charles E. White 1894 - 1896
D. H. Cristy Fill-in 1900 - 1900
J. J. Kuhn 1897 - 1911
John Wesley Amey 1912 - 1915
R. V. Gilbert 1916 - 1918
Cleveland Fill-in 1922 - 1922
Ernest Edgar Bacon 1922 - 1924
H. H. Brown 1925 - 1941
George H. Rutherford Fill-in 1944 - 1957
Lewis Lytle 1942 - 1944
John Gumpper 1957 - 1972
Charles G. Polley 1972 - 1997
Jeff Sterling 1997 - 2013
Casey R. Chapman 2014 - 2017
Jerry Laird Fill-in 2017 - 2018
J. Doug Tucker 2018 - 2019
Harold Walton 2019 - Present

 

©2021 Atlantic Community Church