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To honor and glorify God by obeying Jesus’ command to make disciples of all people groups. We believe our mission as a congregation is to Invite, Connect, Disciple, and then Send Out to Grow the Kingdom of God.
“We are a growing congregation with a large heart for serving our community and one another.”
First Christian Church (DOC) is a community and outreach focused congregation which fosters both high volunteerism and joyful, close relationships through a variety of ministry opportunities. We understand that through study and worship, we prepare ourselves for all that God has called us to. Our Sunday worship is designed bring an awareness of how God is present in our lives spurring us to greater things. Our pastor’s sermons are not only encouraging but thought provoking as well. Our Sunday classes, held prior to worship, are opportunities to connect with each other together the class digs deeper into the word of God. We are delighted to have partnered with other ministries who work with foster families as well as domestic violence victims. And are blessed to have a second growing congregation nesting within our building. Most recently we have embraced new ministry partners which work with us to offer the community meal known as “The Welcome Table”. This is a free weekly meal served on Tuesday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., in a restaurant-style meal for 130 to as many as 185 from the surrounding community. All are welcome, rich or poor, secure or homeless, well or disabled, families or singles – in partnership with Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. As we seek to minister to one another. The Elders provide visitation to the sick, shut-ins, and others of the congregation and those identified by members of the congregation – who need support, communion, and/or counseling. In addition, the pastor is available for couples and individual counseling, regardless of one’s faith understanding. As a part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), we are centered in the wisdom that “in essentials – unity, in non-essentials – diversity, and in all things – love. Come and see what that’s like!
Learn more about the Disciples
As members of the Christian Church, We confess that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the living God, and proclaim him Lord and Savior of the world.
In Christ’s name and by his grace we accept our mission of witness
and service to all people. We rejoice in God, maker of heaven and earth,
and in God’s covenant of love which binds us to God and to one another.
Through baptism into Christ we enter into newness of life
and are made one with the whole people of God. In the communion of the Holy Spirit we are joined together in discipleship and in obedience to Christ.
At the Table of the Lord we celebrate with thanksgiving the saving acts and presence of Christ. Within the universal church we receive the gift of ministry
and the light of scripture. In the bonds of Christian faith we yield ourselves to God
that we may serve the One whose kingdom has no end. Blessing, glory, and honor
be to God forever. Amen.
For I have received of the Lord what I have also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup also after supper saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread, and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. – I Corinthians 11:23-26 (NRSV)
The Lord’s Supper or Communion is celebrated in weekly worship. It is belief that the Lord’s table is to be open to all who believe in Jesus Christ. The practice of Holy Communion has become the central element of worship within the Disciples tradition.
Disciples’ observance of the Lord’s Supper echoes the Passover feast, when Jesus shared bread and wine with his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the living Christ is met and received in the sharing of the bread and the cup, representative of the body and blood of Jesus. The presence of the living Lord is affirmed, and he is proclaimed to be the dominant power in our lives.
Peter said to them,” Repent, and be baptized every one.
Peter said to them,” Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” – Acts 2:38 (NRSV)
Just as the baptism represents the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it symbolizes the death and burial of the old self of the repentant believer, and the joyous birth of a brand new being in Christ. Those who founded the Disciples movement taught baptism by immersion as the accepted form. – From Word to the Church on Baptism, Commission on Theology, 1987
Baptism is a public act by which the church proclaims God’s grace, as revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, through the use of a visible sign of God’s gracious initiative and the human individual’s response in faith.
With other Christians we affirm that baptism is at once a divine gift and a human response. The meaning of baptism is grounded in God’s redemptive action in Christ, it incorporates the believer in the community in the body of Christ, and it anticipates life in the coming age when the powers of the old world will be overcome, and the purposes of God will triumph.
We'll be in touch this week.