Our Doctrine
Thomas Memorial Baptist Church holds to
a conservative theology, typical of mainstream Baptist tradition through the
centuries.
We
believe in the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, in the person of
Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit; all being co-equal and co-eternal.
We
believe that Jesus Christ was crucified for the sins of those who believe in
Him, to bring about reconciliation with God the Father.
We
believe in the inerrancy of the Bible as the inspired, written Word of God
as our guide for faith and practice.
We
believe in the Priesthood of believers, the competency of the individual
under the sovereignty of God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
We
believe that salvation is received by faith, as a free gift from God, by
anyone who yields his/her life to God through Christ as Savior and lord. Salvation cannot be bought or
earned. The salvation of the
believer is secure and eternal and cannot be lost.
We
believe the church is an autonomous body, practicing democratic and
congregational government under the headship of Jesus Christ. The church is composed only of
members who have yielded their lives to Jesus Christ and followed Him in
baptism.
We
believe in the observance of the two ordinances taught in the New Testament,
Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism
is by immersion of the believer under water, in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The
Lord's Supper is for all baptized believers.
Both ordinances are symbolic in their nature and meaning and testify
to the faith of the believer.
Who Are We?
Our
fellowship began in a mobile home in the Northwood Park Shopping Center, now
known as the Marden's Mall, in June 1968.
The congregation, under the leadership of Pastor Gordon Thomas, was
known as "The Chapel in the Marketplace.”
Gordon Thomas served our Lord by ministering to the needs of the people
in the area, and holding worship services in the mobile home. Thomas Memorial Baptist Church,
named in the memory of Pastor Thomas after his death in January 1976, opened its
doors at our present location in July 1978.
Thomas
Memorial Baptist Church is affiliated with the largest Protestant
denomination in the United States, the Southern Baptist Convention, made up
of over 39,000 churches with over 15 million members. Locally we are affiliated with the
Mainz Baptist Association (MEBA) and the Baptist Convention of New England (BCNE). We share fellowship with Baptists
around the world, through the Baptist World Alliance.
While
each Southern Baptist Church is an autonomous body, we join with other
members of the Southern Baptist Convention to help support over 5000
missionaries in this country and over 4000 foreign missionaries in 133 other
nations around the world, through the Cooperative Program.
We
seek to provide a setting that will help each member find a place in our
fellowship, foster a spirit of love and service, and allow us to reach out
to our community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thomas Memorial Baptist Church