November 10, 2020, will be remembered as a historic day in our family of churches because, on that day, the Sovereign Grace Churches Council of Elders unanimously approved our new Statement of Faith. I believe this momentous decision is historic for two reasons.
The Process of Approving our Statement of Faith
First, the process of studying, rewriting, reviewing, and approving our Statement of Faith involved all of the pastors in Sovereign Grace. In particular, our Theology Committee comprised of 7 Sovereign Grace elders, led by Jeff Purswell, our Director of Theology, put in countless hours to rewrite our Statement of Faith with theological precision and a pastoral tone that will serve generations to come in our family of churches. Our Statement of Faith was sent to every church in Sovereign Grace, giving every pastor the opportunity to ask questions and provide input before submitting it for approval. The approval process not only involved the Council of Elders, but it also needed to be approved by our Regional Assembly of Elders, which means that every pastor in Sovereign Grace had an opportunity to vote to approve this theologically unifying document. And I'm happy to report that on November 30, 2020, every Regional Assembly of Elders did approve our Statement of Faith. My point is that the process of developing and approving our statement of faith is historic because it was a denomination-wide effort. "Historic" is a word thrown around far too casually. Still, I believe it applies here—we're not aware of a recent example of such a careful, detailed statement being formulated by a denomination in such close partnership with the pastors of that denomination.
The Content of our Statement of Faith
Second, our new Statement of Faith's approval is historic because of its rich, biblical, doctrinally sound, God-glorifying content. I thank God for the hard work the Theology Committee did over the last seven years to produce a Statement of Faith that will protect our family of churches, strengthen our theological unity, and deepen our worship of God. Good theology always leads to passionate doxology. Therefore, I can't wait for you to read our Statement of Faith because it will not only increase your knowledge of God and his Word; it will also deepen your worship of God.
A Dedicated Website for our Statement of Faith
To mark this historic moment in Sovereign Grace, we have established a dedicated website for our Statement of Faith: webelieve.sovereigngrace.com, which you can find here. This website is your "one-stop-shop" for the Sovereign Grace Churches Statement of Faith. Before reading our Statement of Faith, take time to watch the intro video where Jeff Purswell explains the significance of this theologically unifying document for our family of churches. When you read the Statement of Faith, you can use a digital version or an Editors Edition. If you would like to order a print version of our Statement of Faith, you can do so on our website.
Sovereign Grace Churches is a confessional family of churches. At the heart of our union is the truth of God's Word that we believe, cherish and proclaim together. The reason this is a historic moment for our denomination is that our Statement of Faith represents a summary of the teaching of Scripture on key points of doctrine essential to the beliefs, conduct, and witness of our churches. And it's historic because the unity we enjoy is not only relational and full of love but also doctrinal and full of truth. We hope that as you read the truths contained in our new Statement of Faith, you would rejoice and join us in saying, "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory" (Psalm 115:1, ESV).
Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church. He and his wife, Jill, have three married daughters and a growing number of grandchildren.