What is a Covenant Brethren Church?

Statement of Faith

The Brethren movement began under the leadership of Alexander Mack, Sr. in 1708 in Schwarzenau Germany as a natural outgrowth of the Anabaptist and Pietist movements following the Reformation. Circumstances have often required us to declare to the world and to other Christians what we understand the Word of God to teach on various subjects. In order to inform those who might desire to know more particularly what we understand the Scriptures to teach, we set forth the following summary on basic topics.

 

Beliefs

1. The Bible

We believe the original writings of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are fully inspired by God, and are without error and completely trustworthy. We believe that God has faithfully preserved His Word throughout all generations and that it is fully authoritative and final. We believe it is our ultimate source for all information about Almighty God, the world He has created, and is our sole rule of faith and practice.

2. God

There is only one Almighty God eternally existent in three distinct, co-equal and co-eternal Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth and sinless life, and in the sin-pardoning value of Christ’s shed blood and death on the cross. We believe in Christ’s bodily resurrection from the tomb, His ascension to glory, and His personal and visible return to the earth. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling a Christian is enabled to live a godly life.

 

3. Salvation

We believe that all people are created in God’s image. Because of Adam’s disobedience to God’s command, Adam and all people have fallen into sin, have a sin nature, and are separated from God. God, who is rich in mercy, has made one provision for the salvation of people, which is faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the satisfactory payment for sin. The gospel is the good news that God will receive to Himself all persons who, with penitent heart, confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead: of the believer to the eternal blessedness of the saved, and of the unbeliever to the eternal suffering of the lost.

 

4. The Church

All persons who have received God’s gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ constitute the Church. The Bible defines the Church as those who have been called out of the world to be God’s special people, the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ. The mission of the Church is both external and internal and includes both word and deed. Externally, the Church is to proclaim the saving grace of Jesus Christ to a sinful humanity and to impact its community for the glory of God as His representatives in the world. Internally, the Church is to teach believers the whole counsel of God which includes encouragement to live a holy life and accountability to one another.

A Brief History of Barren Ridge Church

Barren Ridge Church was founded in 1865 as a mission effort of the Middle River congregation. It is the third oldest Church in Augusta County. In its early history it founded six other local congregations. Throughout its history Barren Ridge has called forth and employed many prominent leaders, missionaries and pastors in the Church.

 

In its 160 years of operation, this congregation has provided significant and consistent ministry to the residents of the surrounding community, online community, and foreign countries. Because of the dedication of its membership thousands of people have been touched and challenged by the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.