Distinctives

Christ's Church Guilderland is an independent Christian church affiliated with the Christian churches and churches of Christ, known as the Restoration Movement. We have no formal creed, but some basic principles guide our beliefs and practices 

1. "No book but the Bible, no creed but Christ." 

We are about following Jesus, not being members of a religious group or organization (John 5:39-40) 

2. "Where the scriptures speak, we speak. Where the scriptures are silent, we are silent." 

We are a Bible centered church. We don't hold to a particular interpretation of the Bible (2 Peter 1:21) but prefer to let the Bible speak for itself.  

3. "In essential doctrine, unity. In matters of opinion, liberty. In all things, love." 

We hold unwaveringly those beliefs about God, Jesus, the Bible and so forth that are essential to salvation. There are a great many doctrinal positions within Christianity which are fascinating and may or may not be true, but they aren't critical to salvation. In these matters we permit a great deal of latitude, providing that any given doctrine can be honestly determined by a straightforward reading of the text of scripture. In all of these matters, especially when we might disagree, we will practice love toward all regardless of our disagreements.  

4. "We are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only."  

The Restoration Movement typically has presented itself as both an attempt to restore New Testament Christianity as well as a Unity movement to unite all believers on the authority of God's Word alone, and not on any particular creed or denomination (John 17:22-23).