What We Believe
Chalmers is a member of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. As Presbyterians, we believe in the triune God. In other words, God is one God, yet revealed in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe that the Bible is the written revelation of who God is. It is important to gather weekly for worship and to also regularly experience the sacraments of communion. Baptism is seen as a visible sign of God’s promise to God’s people.
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. AMEN.
Supporting these beliefs is Living Faith, a subordinate standard of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
Living Faith
INTRODUCTION
In every generation the church needs to confess its faith anew. That confession must at
one and the same time be the ancient faith of the church and yet spoken into the mood
and questions of its own time. LIVING FAITH endeavours to do that. This Statement of
Christian Belief was prepared under the direction of the Committee on Church Doctrine
of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. It has been received by the General Assembly of
that Church and commended as an acceptable statement and as useful in both worship
and study.
While arising out of the Canadian Presbyterian experience, it is hoped that the statement
speaks to a much wider circle than one denomination, and to people outside the church.
Here, perhaps for the first time, a confessional statement recognizes doubt, and in the
midst of its ringing affirmation of Christian truth acknowledges the difficulties of belief
and the ambiguities of the life of faith.
In writing this document the authors have tried to be in contact with people where they
are today. Thus the statement speaks not only of God’s work in Christ, but also of sex,
war, the economy, the family and justice. We believe that all this is fitting in a faith
which has as its central affirmation the great truth that “God was in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself.” The living God became the person of Christ and walked in our
midst in a world that to an astonishing extent shared many of the same problems we do
now. If God could get involved with the grim fabric of life, then so can God’s church! So
too, must the faith we confess.
The inspiration for the style and general outline of LIVING FAITH comes from A
Declaration of Faith of The Presbyterian Church in the United States. Some use has also
been made of modern statements such as The Confession of 1967 of The United
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and others listed in the notes. We are grateful for
permission to use these statements. The committee responsible for LIVING FAITH
always had in mind the great Reformed Confessions such as the Westminster Confession,
the Scots Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. In the end the statement is our own,
reflecting our own needs and experiences.
In 1536 George Wishart, the first teacher of the Scottish Reformation, translated a
Confession of Faith. Part of his introduction to that statement is appropriate today: “It is
not our mind to prescribe a certain rule of the faith to all churches, for we know no other
rule of faith but the Holy Scriptures; and therefore we are well contented with those who
agree with these things although they use another manner of speaking. It was our pleasure
to use these words at the present time, that we might declare our opinion in our religion
and worshiping of God. The truth will have the upper hand.
To read more, click on the link below.
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. AMEN.
Supporting these beliefs is Living Faith, a subordinate standard of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
Living Faith
INTRODUCTION
In every generation the church needs to confess its faith anew. That confession must at
one and the same time be the ancient faith of the church and yet spoken into the mood
and questions of its own time. LIVING FAITH endeavours to do that. This Statement of
Christian Belief was prepared under the direction of the Committee on Church Doctrine
of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. It has been received by the General Assembly of
that Church and commended as an acceptable statement and as useful in both worship
and study.
While arising out of the Canadian Presbyterian experience, it is hoped that the statement
speaks to a much wider circle than one denomination, and to people outside the church.
Here, perhaps for the first time, a confessional statement recognizes doubt, and in the
midst of its ringing affirmation of Christian truth acknowledges the difficulties of belief
and the ambiguities of the life of faith.
In writing this document the authors have tried to be in contact with people where they
are today. Thus the statement speaks not only of God’s work in Christ, but also of sex,
war, the economy, the family and justice. We believe that all this is fitting in a faith
which has as its central affirmation the great truth that “God was in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself.” The living God became the person of Christ and walked in our
midst in a world that to an astonishing extent shared many of the same problems we do
now. If God could get involved with the grim fabric of life, then so can God’s church! So
too, must the faith we confess.
The inspiration for the style and general outline of LIVING FAITH comes from A
Declaration of Faith of The Presbyterian Church in the United States. Some use has also
been made of modern statements such as The Confession of 1967 of The United
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and others listed in the notes. We are grateful for
permission to use these statements. The committee responsible for LIVING FAITH
always had in mind the great Reformed Confessions such as the Westminster Confession,
the Scots Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. In the end the statement is our own,
reflecting our own needs and experiences.
In 1536 George Wishart, the first teacher of the Scottish Reformation, translated a
Confession of Faith. Part of his introduction to that statement is appropriate today: “It is
not our mind to prescribe a certain rule of the faith to all churches, for we know no other
rule of faith but the Holy Scriptures; and therefore we are well contented with those who
agree with these things although they use another manner of speaking. It was our pleasure
to use these words at the present time, that we might declare our opinion in our religion
and worshiping of God. The truth will have the upper hand.
To read more, click on the link below.
