Faith Community Church is a local church family based in Providence, RI. We love Jesus, our family, and our neighborhoods. We believe we are called to physically serve and spiritually minister to those in and around the city.
OUR HISTORY
“We are a family of faith that is a product of two churches coming together believing that we could be better together than apart. In the late 1970s, John and Sue Slaiger came to Providence as urban missionaries with the vision of planting a church. In 1984, after several years of ministry within the South Providence neighborhood, Faith and Hope Baptist Church (FHBC) was officially organized.
This family of faith continued to work faithfully in the city for the next thirty years. In 2015, John and Jenny Ames moved to Providence with the desire to start a new church that reached and multiplied itself into different under-resourced communities. In September of 2015, they launched West End Community Church (WECC) on Cranston Street in what used to be the Grace and Hope Mission. Both churches were formed with the same vision of glorifying Jesus Christ in the city's under-resourced communities and God used them to accomplish that goal. For three years both churches worked together in partnership and shared each other's resources.
In January of 2018, the idea of combining both churches for the sake of the Gospel began to be explored. After six months of prayer and discernment, the elders of both churches voted to recommend to the members that FHBC and WECC become one church. During the summer of 2018, the members of both churches voted with overwhelming support to move forward with this Kingdom opportunity. On September 2nd of 2018, WECC and FHBC became Faith Community Church and held its first combined service as one new body of believers.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
THE BIBLE
We believe that the Bible is the inspired, authoritative, living, eternally reliable Word of God, infallible, and our source of supreme revelation from God, superior to conscience and reason, though not contrary to reason; and it is therefore our rule of faith and practice and necessary to our daily lives (II Timothy 3:16-17; I Peter 1:23-25; Hebrews 4:12).
THE TRINITY
We believe in one God who has revealed Himself in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:20).
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all co-eternal, all stand equally superior to time, free from the temporal distinctions of past and future (Father - Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; Psalm 102:27; Son - John 1:1; John 8:58; Hebrews 1:8; I John 1:1-3; Revelation 1:8; Spirit – John 15:26; John 16:12-15; Hebrews 9:14).
THE FATHER
We believe in God the Father, creator of all things visible and invisible. (Col. 1:15-16)
JESUS CHRIST
We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, who came into the world to reveal the Father, and was the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person; that Jesus Christ was the Creator of everything, for by Him all things were made. We further believe that in Christ dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and that He was very God and very Man (John 1:1-2 & 14; I Tim. 3:16). We believe in Jesus Christ's pre-existence, incarnation, virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, substitutionary and atoning death, bodily resurrection, bodily ascension into heaven, exaltation, present rule at the right hand of God, coming personal return in power and great glory, and in His everlasting Kingdom and dominion (Acts 1:11; 3:19-21; Daniel 7:14; Revelation 20:4). We acknowledge His Lordship -- that Jesus Christ is Lord over all things in heaven and on earth, and under the earth (Phil. 2:9-10).
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the Holy Spirit and in we believe in the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Who gifts Christians to accomplish Christ’s purposes in the world and Who manifests His presence to the world through Christ’s church (Romans 8:13-14; Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 12; 1 Corinthians 14; Ephesians 4:30, 5:18). (I Cor. 12:4-11, Gal 5:22-23).
HUMANITY
We believe that humanity was created by God and in His image (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7). We believe that humans, by transgression, fell from a state of righteousness and holiness in which we were first created into total spiritual depravity, a state of death in trespasses and sins in which we are held as a slave of sin and an enemy of God. As such, we are unable to attain divine righteousness by our own efforts; but must be redeemed and delivered by the power of the gospel (Romans 5:12-21; I Corinthians 15:1-4).
SALVATION
We believe that repentance and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ is an integral part of God’s work of justification of the believer. Through faith in the shed blood of Christ, he or she is justified and made a partaker in the death of Christ. (Romans 5:1-2, 9-11). We believe that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). We further believe that the emphasis for a continuous walk in grace should be on demonstrating righteousness and purity of heart, believing in the keeping power of God, walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh, living a lifestyle that demonstrates the character, standards and convictions of Jesus Christ, and not being conformed to the world (Jude 1:24; Galatians 5:16-25; Romans 4:1-5; 12:1-2). We believe that repentance is dependent upon the convicting action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of sinners and believers and their response. The conviction of the Holy Spirit, which often accompanies the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, will result in the revelation of the sinfulness of self, which should lead to godly sorrow. Remorse, or worldly sorrow, is a feeling of deep regret, hopelessness or even despair. It does not lead to constructive change. On the other hand, Godly sorrow produces repentance that causes us to turn away from sin and selfishness and to receive faith for change. Repentance is evidenced by an earnest desire to change. Repentance changes the way we feel and act about sin, self and God. Repentance is a total change of mind, will and emotions, (II Corinthians 7:10; Psalm 51; Acts 11:18; II Timothy 2:25-26; Romans 1:18-32; Matthew 9:12-13).
JUDGEMENT
We believe that in the final judgment, which will accompany the return of Christ, every person will give an account to God of every aspect of this earthly life. The Judgment Seat of Christ is the judgment of believers in reference to rewards or lack thereof. The Throne of Judgment is the judgment of unbelievers who will be eternally separated from God and in torment. (I Cor. 3:10-15; II Cor 5:10; Rev 20:11-15).
HOLY ORDINANCES
We believe in the Lord's supper and believer's baptism as acts of our obedience and a testimony of our faith (Acts 19:1-7; I Cor 11:23-29). We believe that water baptism is an obedient response to the command of Jesus, but is not necessary for salvation. Baptism is to be performed only upon repentant believers in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Mt. 28:18-20).
THE FAMILY
We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption. (Gen 1:27-28) We believe that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. (Gen 2:20-25; Matthew 19:5-6) The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. (Gen 1:27) A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. (Ephesians 5:25; Colossians 3:19) He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. Both the husband and wife are called to submit to one another out of reverence to Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:21; Colossians 3:18) We believe that children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. (Psalm 127:3; Psalm 139:13-15; Matthew 19:14) Parents are responsible for training their children in the ways of the Lord through encouragement, teaching and discipline (Deuteronomy 11:19; Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21, Proverbs 13:24 & 19:18)
THE CHURCH
The Church is a spiritual living body of which Christ is the Head and of which all reborn people are members. This gathering of regenerated believers, meet and worship God together in order to display His glory, love and mercy wherever they go. (Eph 1:22-23, 1 Peter 2:4-5, Acts 9:4-6, Eph 3:14-19, Eph 5:25- 31) The Church is committed to practice the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper (communion) until Christ returns. We further believe that human and social improvement are necessary products of true Christian Biblical faith. Therefore, the Church should be involved in seeking the physical restoration of all people and the community’s systems. The Church is a priesthood of believers and therefore will equip members to lead and participate in teams for advancing the work of the Church.
