About Belief
In the Reformed tradition, there is a principle that sums up well how Westover Hills approaches belief: “God alone is Lord of the conscience.” Put another way, we recognize that there are many faithful understandings of God and a healthy congregation embraces this diversity as foundational to building a community of trust and hope.
About Jesus Christ
With Christians of many traditions, we believe that Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine. What that means for our faith is that we affirm that Jesus the person knew what it means to be human; to love, to hurt, to hope. Irt also means that Jesus is the Christ who is fully divine and one of the three persons of the Trinity. Jesus is God’s Word made flesh and we live in relationship in and through him.
About God
We believe in the Triune God. Whether that God is called “Father, Son, Holy Spirit” or “Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer” or something else, one fundamental truth is at the heart of our belief in God; ours is a relational God who seeks to be in relationship with us. We believe in God’s love that is more abundant than we can imagine and God’s grace that exceeds our wildest dreams.
About the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. As Reformed Christians we believe that the Holy Spirit is active in the world and in our lives revealing the truth of God’s Word and empowering us to a hopeful and faithful belief. The Spirit is distinct from both God the Creator and Jesus Christ yet is united with them in the fullness of the Triune God.
About the Bible
We believe that the Bible is the inspired and authoritative Word of God. The product of human hands and human limitations, the Bible is not the Word of God. That is Christ alone. However, the Bible provides unique witness to the Word through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Unlike some Christians, we do not hold the Bible to be “inerrant” or without any error in historical fact.
About Sin and Salvation
All of us are sinners and fall short of the glory of God. More importantly, God is always loving and filled with grace and never falls short for us. Reformed Christians believe in the idea of “total human depravity.” Simply put, this means that we are flawed and fall short from time to time. We also believe in the “sovereignty of God” and the faithfulness of God in Christ who came into the world to save rather than to condemn.