Excerpts from our Church Constitution

Constitution

for the

First Baptist Church of Carmichael, California
DBA: American River Community Church

Preamble
We, the members of the First Baptist Church of Carmichael, CA, DBA: American River Community Church, placing our faith wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, accepting the Bible as the inspired word of God and affirming our covenant with God and each other, do, therefore, band ourselves together as a body of believers in Jesus Christ, adopting for our government the following articles:

Article I – Doctrine
We stand in the tradition of historic Baptist principles and specifically declare our adherence to the following:

  1. We believe in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
  2. We believe in the authority of the Bible and its sufficiency as our rule and guide for faith and practice.
  3. We believe in the right of private interpretation of Scripture and in the competency of the individual in direct approach to God.
  4. We believe in the absolute separation of church and state.
  5. We believe in a regenerate church membership.
  6. We practice the symbolic ordinances of Believer’s Baptism by immersion, and the Lord’s Supper.
  7. We believe in the independence of the local church and its interdependence in associated fellowship with other Christian bodies of similar beliefs.
  8. We practice majority rule.
  9. We believe in the spiritual unity of all Believers.
  10. We believe in a world-wide program of evangelism and mission

Article II – Covenant
Having been led by the spirit of God to profess our faith in Jesus Christ and, having been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we do now solemnly and joyfully affirm our covenant with God and with each other.

We pledge to serve Christ in the fellowship of this congregation. We shall endeavor to love one another, to remember one another in prayer, to share in each other’s joys and to sustain each other in times of distress.

We aspire to be a fellowship of the concerned where the lost may find Jesus Christ, sinners may find pardon, seekers may find meaning for their lives and where all who come may find welcome. We shall strive to be responsible church members through faithful attendance, study and giving.

We shall seek to be obedient to Christ in our daily living. Within our homes, in our labor and while at leisure we shall strive for attitudes and actions which will reflect God’s spirit working through us. Believing that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, we shall endeavor to avoid experiences and habits which defile the body and hinder our witness.

Bound together in a fellowship of faith with all who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we will pray and labor for a spirit of unity among all Christians.

Believing that our call to be a church is a call to witness in the world, we dedicate ourselves anew as servants of the Lord of all life. Whenever people are in bondage to ignorance, poverty, fear or prejudice, we shall strive for justice, freedom, dignity and peace. Whenever people are separated by barriers of hostility and distrust, we shall be ministers of God’s reconciling love. As we pledge our support to the work of our Missionaries throughout the world, we commit ourselves to the mission to which God calls us all.

Acknowledging our human frailties and ever seeking forgiveness, we profess our need of the Holy Spirit and commit our lives to Jesus Christ and through Him to the care, the judgment, the deliverance and the mercy of the Almighty God. Amen.