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Church Address: 480 Woolverton Road, Grimsby
Sunday Services: 9:30am, 2:30pm

What We Believe

What has made you interested in learning more about what our Church believes? There are so many beliefs and styles of worship, even under the label of Christianity, that it can be very confusing. We hope that this section will be helpful in answering many of your questions. If you wish to learn more about us, nothing can compare to joining us during our worship services or attending some of our Bible studies. Please join us soon.

Central to our identity as a Christian Church is the term ‘Reformed’. The Oxford English dictionary describes it as “Reformed: of religion, churches, etc. Brought to a better or purer state by the removal of errors or abuse, esp. those imputed to the Church of Rome.” The roots of our modern Canadian Reformed Churches are found in the Great Reformation of 1517, when we set ourselves apart from the Roman Catholic Church. However, this was not a one-time event, as we feel that continual reformation is critical to the maintenance of a true church.

We believe the Bible to be the complete and infallible Word of God, revealing all that we need to know in order to serve our God and love our neighbour. We use the English Standard Version (ESV) in our worship services as one of the best current translations of God’s Word into English.

We use a number of additional resources that are useful in summarizing the Bible’s main teachings. The Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed and The Athanasian Creed originate from the time of the early church, and are relatively well known. During the Reformation of the 16th century three others were added to promote a clearer understanding of the true faith, and these are The Belgic Confession, The Heidelberg Catechism, and The Canons of Dort.

The Canadian Reformed Church federation consists of autonomous local churches within a non-hierarchical framework. Again, the Bible is central in the administration of these local congregations. For more information, please see our church order.

The Canadian Reformed Churches profess all that is written in the Holy Bible. In a sea of Christian Churches we try to distinguish ourselves by being truthful to God’s Holy Word. We identify three elements that constitute the marks of a true church:

The Marks of a True Church

PREACHING

We gather together as a congregation twice every Sunday for worship (see top of page). About half of each service is devoted to the preaching of God’s Word. The sermon is the most important part of our pastor’s work. The morning service typically illustrates the meaning of a portion of the Bible from either or both the Old and the New Testament, while the afternoon service typically uses the Heidelberg Catechism as a starting point to emphasize church doctrine. If you are looking for a clear and easy to understand message based directly on the Word of God, please join us this Sunday!

THE SACRAMENTS

We celebrate the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper within our worship service. We believe they were instituted by God for the strengthening of our faith and to reveal to us God’s promises. Both sacraments are symbols and point us to the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross, where He died for the forgiveness of our sins and our eternal life. Lord’s Day 25 of the Heidelberg Catechism explains this further, and can be accessed here.

Our church believes the Covenant is extended to both adults and infants, and as such, we baptise our children as a sign of God’s promise of salvation to them.

We celebrate the Lord’s Supper (Communion) 4 times per year. Self-examination is a key preparation for this event, and only confessing members of the local congregation, or member of a sister church with a letter attesting to their good standing may come to the table. This is in keeping with Scripture where the manner of celebration of the Lord’s Super is outlined.

CHURCH DISCIPLINE

We see church discipline as an integral part of the Christian love and duty we have towards one another. When properly administered among the members of the church, its intended purpose is to encourage the sinner to recognize their error, to repent, and to be reconciled with God.