CROSS & CROWN CHURCH WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2017 IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA.
Our purpose is to equip men, women, and children to press the crown rights of King Jesus into every area of life.
In other words, you’ll hear us often say, all of Christ, for all of life.
Biblical worship; faithful mission: This is Cross & Crown Church.
Cross & Crown Church is a candidate church member of the Augustine Presbytery of the CREC.
CROSS & CROWN CHURCH AFFIRMS THE HISTORIC CHRISTIAN CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS
We affirm the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Definition of Chalcedon.
Cross & Crown elders also subscribe to and affirm one or more of the Reformed Confessions:
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1647)
- Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and Canons of the Synod at Dordt)
- Savoy Declaration (1658)
- Second Helvetic Confession
- 39 Articles of Christian Religion
Cross & Crown Church is a fellowship of Christian believers united together for the purpose of obeying Christ and carrying out His Great Commission. We believe both the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired, inerrant rule of faith and life. The Holy Bible is the unchallengeable authority and final arbiter for all matters. When it comes to religious controversies, confessions, or creeds, all opinions and secondary convictions such as these must be subordinate to the Word of God.
OUR STRATEGY
SELF GOVERNMENT
Self government includes personal holiness, but it also entails individual purpose in the Kingdom of God. Because Jesus is Lord, and because individuals matter for the work of the Great Commission, we are convinced that each person must work and keep his corner of the garden-world.
Therefore, we will promote the necessity of: private-judgment, personal holiness, serious study and application of Scripture, prayer, a proper theology of work, individual purpose, and a commitment to the flourishing of the world around us.
FAMILY GOVERNMENT
Family government is about understanding that each covenant family and household is an integral component of God’s plan, and that father and mother are ground zero for training the next generation of world conquerors.
Therefore, we will promote the necessity of: family worship, Christian education, covenant households, proper gender roles, and the treatment of children as covenant members of the Church of God.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT
Church government is less about politics and more about kingdom-mission and discipleship. Elders are called to utilize the word of God & prayer in order to equip God’s people to do kingdom work. The Church is central to the mission of God and it is the Church who must proclaim the law-word of God for every area of life.
Therefore, we will promote the necessity of: qualified and competent Elders & Deacons, kingdom-oriented vocation, a discerning cooperation with other Christians in other assemblies, Lord’s Day worship and covenant renewal, and the practice of baptism and the Lord’s supper.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT
Civil government, according to Scripture, is designed to be a local, judiciary-centered institution granted from God for the express purpose of executing God’s wrath on the evil-doer (Romans 13:1-7). Since we love both the law and gospel of God, we desire justice for our selves and our neighbors. Our involvement in the political realm stems from our conviction that Jesus is truly King, and that all civil servants are to obey Him (e.g., Psalm 2).
Therefore, we will promote the necessity of: social/cultural engagement with the gospel, public theology, interaction with local, state, and national politics, the doctrine of lesser magistrates, and the propagation of biblical social justice.
DISTINCTIVES OF CROSS & CROWN CHURCH
REFORMED
We affirm the historic creeds of the Christian faith, including the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Definition of Chalcedon. Additionally, we adhere to the Westminster Confession of Faith, with only a few noted exceptions.
EVANGELICAL
“Unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). While the outward call of the gospel is universal, only those who are born again by the Spirit of the living God will share in the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection.
COVENANT RENEWAL WORSHIP
When the church (ekklesia) gathers for worship each Lord’s Day, she proactively renews covenant with God. This is not because the covenant itself is insufficient, but because we need the renewing power of the Holy Spirit. Our liturgy follows the pattern of worship prescribed in Scripture, summarized in five categories: Call, Confession, Consecration, Communion, and Commission. This pattern aligns with the five-fold covenant model: Transcendence, Hierarchy, Ethics, Oaths, and Succession.
WEEKLY COMMUNION
The heart of biblical worship is centered on Word and sacrament. As often as we are nourished by the Word, we also desire to be fed at the Lord’s Table. Just as the Old Testament worshiper partook of the peace offering—signifying fellowship and peace between God and man—so we partake of Christ’s eucharistic table, celebrating communion with Him and one another when we gather for worship.
PSALM/HYMN SINGING
The book of Psalms contains the fullest expression of human emotion, from the highest joys to the deepest sorrows. These songs of Christ are Holy Spirit-inspired praises and prayers, given for us to pray and sing back to God. While we regularly sing hymns grounded in sound doctrine, the Psalms form the theological backbone of our worship.
BIBLICAL SERMONS
When we gather on the Lord’s Day, we do not seek a motivational pep talk or a man’s entertaining story. What we need—above all—is to hear from God. We need a prophetic herald to open the Bible and proclaim to God’s people what He has spoken. In short, we need biblical preaching: preaching that informs our minds, challenges our hearts, and equips our hands for faithful Christian action.
INFANT BAPTISM
Simply put, we baptize the children of Christians because they, too, belong to Christ. From the beginning, they are set apart as holy (1 Cor. 7:14) through the covenantal connection to their believing parents. Throughout Scripture, children have been included in God’s covenant people, a pattern that continues into the New Covenant. As Jesus said, “For to such belongs the Kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16). Therefore, water baptism marks their entrance into the visible church, as they are brought into Christ and given the Trinitarian name (Matthew 28:19).
WINE IN COMMUNION
We are convinced that Jesus intentionally used wine when He instituted the Lord’s Supper, and we have no authority to alter what He established. Wine was a central element of the Passover meal, and it was within that context that Jesus gave us this sacrament. When Christ offers us the cup, we dare not respond, “No thanks, Jesus, I don’t drink because I’m a Christian.” As Scripture says, “The bread leavens righteousness, and the wine gladdens the heart” (Psalm 104:15).
COVENANT CHILD COMMUNION
Our children participate in the worship service alongside us because they are not segregated into “Children’s Church”—they are members of the Church. Therefore, we baptize our children and welcome them into the life of the church. Having entered through the “door” of the church via water baptism, they are invited to the “dining room” (the Lord’s Table), for His table is for His people, and He welcomes them all. In baptizing our children, we identify them as members of Christ’s covenant people, and as such, they are joyfully welcomed to partake of the King’s meal.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
We believe it is the responsibility of every Christian parent—particularly fathers as covenantal heads—to provide a distinctly Christian education for their children. The local church, therefore, must equip and encourage parents to fulfill this duty for their covenant children. Education is not the responsibility of the state; it belongs to the family as ordained by God.
OPTIMISTIC FUTURE
We affirm the historic Reformed position on the end times, known as Postmillennialism. We believe that Christ’s Kingdom was fully inaugurated through His death, resurrection, and ascension, and it will continue to grow—like leaven—both in number and influence until He returns. Christ’s visible return will not occur until all enemies are defeated and the Great Commission has been fulfilled. The final enemy to be utterly conquered at the resurrection is death (1 Cor. 15:25). The world is not destined to spiral into worsening darkness; rather, Christ’s Kingdom will advance until the knowledge of the Lord fills the earth as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14).
COMPREHENSIVE CHRISTIANITY
We recognize that many of the world’s woes stem from a truncated, pietistic worldview that has been perpetuated within our churches. To confront this erroneous teaching, we are committed to five central theological components that form a Kuyperian framework of sphere sovereignty—equipping God’s people with the tools necessary to live faithfully in every area of life. These components are: postmillennial eschatology, theonomic ethics, covenant theology, presuppositional epistemology, and Reformed (Calvinistic) soteriology.
CULTURAL RENEWAL
We believe that Christians, through the visible church, are called to have a preserving effect on society (Matt. 5:13). The church also serves a prophetic role in culture, applying the Bible to the moral and political issues of the day—just as John the Baptist (Luke 3:19) and other faithful Christians throughout redemptive history have done. We unequivocally reject the artificial distinction between “political” and “religious” issues. If God has spoken on a matter, so must the Church. There is no nature/grace dualism; all of life is to be lived in obedience to Christ the King.