Our Beliefs

What Does Bethany First Church Believe?

Our Beliefs

We are a community of Christians journeying together in the Nazarene Wesleyan tradition.

We unashamedly believe that we are called to share the good news of life in Jesus Christ with every person in our communities.

Two men conversing at a professional event, both wearing glasses. One has a name tag and lanyard. They are standing in a room with other people and conference booths in the background.
Band performing on stage with dramatic lighting and audience watching, featuring singers, guitarist, pianist, drummer in enclosed drum kit.
Three young girls laughing and talking together, one wearing a yellow dress, another in a pink shirt, and the third in a yellow t-shirt, standing indoors with a netted background.

  • We believe in one God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

  • We believe that the Old and New Testament Scriptures, given by plenary inspiration, contain all truth necessary to faith and Christian living.

  • We believe that human beings are born with a fallen nature, and are, therefore, inclined to evil, and that continually

  • We believe that the atonement through Jesus Christ is for the whole human race; and that whosoever repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is justified and regenerated and saved from the dominion of sin.

  • We believe that believers are to be sanctified wholly, subsequent to regeneration, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the new birth, and also to the entire sanctification of believers.

  • We believe that our Lord will return, the dead will be raised, and the final judgment will take place.

  • The Church of the Nazarene recognizes all believers are called to minister to all people. We also affirm Christ calls some men and women to a specific and public ministry even as He chose and ordained His 12 apostles.

    The Church of the Nazarene supports the right of women to use their God-given spiritual gifts within the church and affirms the historic right of women to be elected and appointed to all places of leadership within the Church of the Nazarene, including the offices of both Ordained Elder and Deacon.

The Nazarene Covenant of Christian Character

The Church of the Nazarene believes that we are called to live by these characteristic traits and covenants to display our commitment to God.

  1. Loving God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and one’s neighbor as oneself

  2. Pressing upon the attention of the unsaved the claims of the gospel, inviting them to the house of the Lord, and trying to compass their salvation

  3. Being courteous to all people

  4. Being helpful to those who are also of the faith, in love forbearing one another

  5. Seeking to do good to the bodies and souls of people; feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and ministering to the needy, as opportunity and ability are given

  6. Contributing to the support of the ministry and the church and its work in tithes and offerings

  7. Attending faithfully all the ordinances of God, and the means of grace, including:

    • The public worship of God

    • The ministry of the Word

    • The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

    • Searching the Scriptures and meditating thereon

    • Family and private devotions

First — By doing that which is enjoined in the Word of God

Second — By avoiding evil of every kind

  1. Taking the name of God in vain

  2. Profaning of the Lord’s Day by participation in unnecessary secular activities, thereby indulging in practices that deny its sanctity

  3. Sexual immorality, such as premarital, extramarital, or same-sex relations; perversion in any form or looseness and impropriety of conduct

  4. Habits or practices known to be destructive of physical and mental well-being. Christians are to regard themselves as temples of the Holy Spirit

  5. Quarreling, returning evil for evil, gossiping, slandering, spreading surmises injurious to the good names of others

  6. Dishonesty, taking advantage in buying and selling, bearing false witness, and like works of darkness

  7. The indulging of pride in dress or behavior. Our people are to dress with the Christian simplicity and modesty that become holiness

  8. Music, literature, and entertainments that dishonor God

Third— By abiding in hearty fellowship with the church

  1. Not inveighing against but wholly committed to its doctrines and usages

  2. Actively involved in its continuing witness and outreach
    (Ephesians 2:18–22; 4:1–3, 11–16; Philippians 2:1–8; 1 Peter 2:9–10)

Church of the Nazarene logo featuring a stylized flame and an open book.
"Church of the Nazarene" logo featuring a dove, flame, and open Bible with the words "Holiness Unto the Lord."

Bethany First Church belongs to the Church of the Nazarene, a Wesleyan theological movement.

The Church of the Nazarene is a global denomination founded in 1908 with ministries in over 160 world areas totaling over 30,000 congregations and 2.6 million members globally.