What does Innova Church believe?

We're very ordinary in our theology. We agree on almost everything with most major Reformation denomimations, such as

• Baptists
• Lutherans
• Methodists
• Reformed
• Anglicans
• Mennonites
• Presbyterians
• Evangelicals
• Christian Church
• Church of Christ
• Congregationals

In a similar way, we believe in almost all the same things that post-Vatican II Roman Catholics believe in and the Orthodox church believes in, with the exception of some of the meanings of Communion and baptism, the definition of the priesthood, the intercessionary power of departed saints (including Mary), and a few other issues. However, we fully accept that there are many saved Christians in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Orthodox Churches. But this is a series of disagreements within our family, the family of God.

We do not believe that non-Christians are saved, but non-Christians are to be loved as much or more than our fellow Christians. Non-Christians are always welcome at our services - call ahead if you'd like to get some basic ideas of what to expect, or just show up if you are confident.

Let's look at some of our key doctrinal points:

• God created the Universe. God does not have a physical body, and is a spirit being.
• Jesus Christ is his only begotten Son. Jesus existed from the beginning, just as did God. Jesus was born of God and a woman, becoming both God and man - God in physical form, with both the nature of man and the nature of God. He ministered to the world, was crucified, died, and buried. On the third day, He rose again as proof of His deityhood. He appeared to over 500 people after this in his physical form and then rose to heaven, where He is awaiting His Kingdom beside God, which He will rule someday in the future.
• The Holy Spirit is the third personality of the God-Jesus-Holy Spirit Trinity. He is Spirit only, and comes to dwell inside each Christian when asked, where He quietly guides us toward proper behaviour, worthy of sons and daughters of God.
• Each personality of the Trinity is part of one being in a complex way which man has tried to understand since the 1st Century.
• The Church is the organization or organism of believers on the earth. Every man, woman, and child who accepts Christ as his or her true Lord is saved. Baptism is the ritual by which believers join the Church - yet it is more than a mere ritual. The act of obediance in itself does something to us.
• Communion is another key ritual, which we consider a key part of worship and have decided to perform at most weekly services. In Communion, we remember the atoning substitutional sacrifice which Christ committed for us and all who decide to accept Him as Lord. However, there is something more to this ritual than a mere remembrance -- in some way, the act of eating the bread and drinking the wine is a way of strengthening our connection with Christ - not that it can be broken, but yet we become closer to Christ in Communion.
• Acceptance of Christ offers several benefits. There is the immediate benefit of substantial healing, brought about by a spiritually awakened outlook on life. Additional strengthening and healing of our person occurs because we have broken free from the slavery of sin - we have a newfound freedom similar to that experienced by a young bird as it breaks free from its shell. As we mature spiritually by understanding God's Word and developing a relationship with God and Christ through the Holy Spirit, we become able to function more and more like sons and daughters of God rather than warped and twisted human beings. Finally, after our earthly body dies, we are promised a resurrection in the same way as Christ, arising in an incorruptible, yet fully human body to an eternal existence.
• We believe that our existence on this earth is for a purpose. Our general purpose is to love God and each other, gaining tremendously from this interaction. Part of this purpose is to change the world for the better during our earthly time by spreading the teachings of Christ, which is the will of God. Our specific purpose is for us to discover how we each individually can do this.
• We believe that salvation comes through faith - our belief and committment to follow Christ and His teachings. Salvation does not come through any specific action which we or another do, such as giving to the poor or accepting a baptism. Instead, God gives us the opportunity which is His alone to give as a gift, which is to become children of His by simply accepting that gift through faith. For when we accept that gift, we inherently have decided that He is God -- and we are not.
• We believe that an understanding of salvation is not a function of "blind" faith. We believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a historical fact which has substantial historical, archeological, literary, and sociological evidence to support it. As well, we believe that Christianity is the logical position of any truly logical seeker, who is willing to sift the evidence without pre-conceived notions, as demonstrated by a host of extremely learned men and women throughout history.