What We Believe
Since the early days of the 1800's, the Old Washington First Presbyterian Church's central mission and ethics have remained constant: to demonstrate the faith in Jesus Christ and to call others to join them in serving Him. The Church today is dedicated to the equipping of its members with the spiritual resources needed to remain faithful to the Lord as they serve Him in this community. We continue to observe the two sacraments through which we encounter the Living Christ himself: Baptism and Holy Communion (or the Lord's Supper).
Since its creation by Christ, the Christian Church has always held that since we live in a "sacramental universe" and that the material world in which we live is a creation of God and an expression of His divine will, and where His grace can be received by all who come to Him, it is surely fitting that we use material objects and visible actions to aid our awareness of His living presence among us. This we do through the sacrament of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Since baptism marks the entry of an individual into the community of Christ on earth, we hold, as did the early church, that the children of Christian parents have a definite place within the church. A newborn child is the beginning of an immortal soul, but is not yet an independent soul. Decisions have to be made for the child by his or her parents and by the church. These cannot be postponed because what the child is to become in the future is determined by their experiences as infants and young children.
Dr. Donald Baillie states in his book, "The Theology of the Sacraments", that it is important to note that in the early church baptism was administered without delay to the children of people who had come into the Christian community from paganism. They further believed that children born to Christians had access to all the privileges of the church, including baptism. Baptism brings a child into a new environment, the environment of the church of Jesus Christ which John Calvin and the early church father, Cyprian, both called "the mother of all who have God as their Father." That, of course, includes infants and children. They are grafted into Christ, who lives in the church, which is His Body. The child is from then on surrounded by the life of the church, an environment that touches him most closely in the life of his parents. For these and other equally valid reasons, the First Presbyterian Church of Old Washington administers the sacraments of baptism to infants as well as to believing adults who confess their faith in Jesus Christ and claim Him as their Lord.
We also believe that in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper (Holy Communion) Jesus Christ is truly present spiritually to all who partake of it just as the bread and wine are visible to his outward senses. God uses the symbolism of the bread and wine and the words and actions of celebrant to actually give Himself to us in this way.
To the earliest Christians, the Lord's Supper wasn't just a symbolic remembrance of Christ's sacrifice for them. Instead, it was a means by which the real presence and the very life of Christ was actually channeled to them. The Christian apologist and author, C. S. Lewis, held the same view. He wrote: "the veil between the spiritual world and our world, nowhere else (for me, at least) so hidden from the intellect, is nowhere else so thin and permeable to God's working as in the Lord's Supper. Here a hand from the hidden country touches not only my soul, but also my body. Here is big medicine and strong magic." We here at Old Washington Presbyterian believe that as well. We not only believe in, but also are able to personally experience (as are all Christians) the actual Presence of Christ as He gives Himself to us in and through His church as well as through the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper.
First Presbyterian is a growing fellowship of Christian believers who are seriously trying to live out their faith in, and commitment to, Jesus in the communities in which we live. All in all, First Presbyterian tries to be a "full-service" church providing opportunities for spiritual growth, as well as ways to put our faith to work where we live.