Many people have asked what we at Kirk of the Lake Presbyterian Church believe.    While this page may not answer every question, we do want to help members, visitors, and inquirers learn more about our church.

Kirk of the Lake Presbyterian Church is characterized accurately by the following terms:
We are evangelical
That is, we take our stand with all those who believe in "the fundamentals" of the Christian faith:  the existence of the triune God, the deity of Jesus, the virgin birth, the substitutionary and vicarious atonement of Christ, the physical resurrection of Christ, His sure return, and the infallibility and divine authority of the Bible.
We are evangelistic
This means we take seriously the Great Commission as given by Jesus to his disciples, "Go and make disciples of all nations."  Our responsibility is to extend the Gospel invitation as a call to salvation to everyone who hears its message.
We are reformed
This refers to our historical link to the Reformation of the 16th century.  We are heirs to the tradition which comes from Luther, Calvin, Knox, and subsequently the Puritans.  We believe in the five "solas" of the Reformation.  Distinctives include the sovereignty of God in His creation, providence and election of believers apart from any merit of their own; the irresistible grace of God provided for and preceding the faith of the individual; the sufficiency of God's grace apart from which man is dead in sin; the efficacy of Christ's death for all those who believe in Him by grace; the  perseverance of all those for whom Christ died for eternal life.
We are confessional
We have a written confession of faith which we believe to be a good and accurate summary of the Bible's teaching.  Our confession consists of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.  This carefully worded summary of the Bible's content was written in the 1640s by an assembly of learned theologians and ministers and has been unsurpassed as an accurate and concise statement of Christian doctrine.  It is especially relevant today as it presents the unchanging Truth of scripture in a postmodern world.
We are covenantal
We believe that the unifying principle of the Scriptures is the one covenant of grace that God made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and finally, and most importantly, in Jesus Christ.  There is one way only to salvation in both Old and New Testaments-- and that is only by faith alone in Jesus Christ.  We do not hold to differing ways of salvation attributed to different historical eras.
We are Kingdom Centered
We believe that the Kingdom of God is not only a future hope but a present reality.  Jesus Christ is presently reigning from Heaven and we are called upon to honor and obey Him in every area of thought, word and deed.
We are Presbyterian
This word refers to our form of church government.  We believe that the most clear biblical pattern is for churches to be governed by presbyters (elders) who rule jointly in what are called sessions (particular church), presbyteries (regional churches) and the General Assembly.