What We Believe
In Essentials, Unity; In Non-Essentials, Liberty; In All Things, Love
Along with the worldwide Moravian Church, Friedberg believes in the fundamental teachings of Christianity as revealed by God in the Bible. More specifically, the church
- recognizes the example of Christ’s life and proclaims that Jesus Christ is Lord,
- is called to serve all people by sharing the Gospel and showing others our faith by word and deed (Ephesians 3:11, Acts 2:18-21),
- believes in the holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) as the only source of life and salvation,
- shares with the universal Christian Church faith in God, who revealed Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Savior of all people,
- declares the living presence and Lordship of Jesus Christ over the Church,
- shares joy in the benefits of His life, sufferings, death and resurrection and emphasize a close bond of fellowship with each other in His name,
- recognizes the value of the historic creeds of the Christian Church (such as the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed and the Augsburg Confession) in calling upon believers in every age to give a testimony recognizing Jesus Christ as Lord,
- seeks to best express our faith in daily life through obedience to Jesus’ teachings (e.g. Matthew 5-7) and through the example of His life (Philippians 2:5, Ephesians 4:20).
We are called to be faithful stewards of the time, talents and finances God has entrusted to us. Friedberg supports not only the charitable, missionary and other benevolent causes of the Moravian Church, but also worthy causes of other Christian churches as well as outside the church.
Friedberg, and the worldwide Moravian Church, seeks fellowship with other Christian churches regardless of varying opinions and ceremonies particular to each church. We know it is God’s will that we should seek unity with all believers, celebrating the many gifts the Lord has given to the different denominations and sharing with one another the variety we have.
Our church has a genuine concern for the world and a desire to share the message of the love of God to our neighbors and community at large, ministering to their needs (Matthew 25:40). Knowing that Christ’s salvation is for all people and that He has made of one blood all nations (Acts 17:26), we do not discriminate on the basis of color, race, creed or nationality.
Sacraments
Friedberg practices public baptism by sprinkling. As with the universal Christian Church, we believe baptism is the visible sign of being united with Christ in His death and resurrection, dying to sin and walking in newness of life (Romans 6:1-11).
Communion is open to all believers regardless of denomination or origin. Friedberg does not attempt to declare the mystery of Christ’s presence in the communion elements, but allows the believer to share in covenant with Christ the Savior and with other believers. Communion is a celebratory time of worship, fellowship, and personal covenant with Christ.
Ground of the Unity
A more detailed description of the basic belief principles of Friedberg Moravian Church can be found in The Ground of the Unity,the Moravian Church’s official statement of faith. The Ground of the Unity can be viewed online as a PDF (Adobe Acrobat) document using the link below.
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