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 all areas of life.
In other words, you’ll hear us often say, all of Christ, for all of life.
CROSS & CROWN CHURCH AFFIRMS THE HISTORIC CHRISTIAN CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS
We affirm the Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, and 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)
- London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)
- 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
IDENTITY
Having been transformed by the gospel, Christians have moved from being sinners estranged from God to becoming justified, sinner-saints who are made right by Christ’s finished work. Therefore, we confess that our newfound identity stems from our newfound Trinitarian identity: The Father has made us a family, the Son has made us servants, and the Spirit has made us missionaries. We are a family of servant missionaries.
BIG GOSPEL
The message of reconciliation between God and man through the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ goes hand in hand with the arrival of the Messiah and His kingdom which has been inaugurated. Both of these elements constitute the “good news” of the gospel which we are to proclaim. Individual salvation from the wrath of God due to our sin, and Christ’s inheritance of the nations calls us to obedience in every area of life as redeemed servants.
OPTIMISTIC ESCHATOLOGY/GREAT COMMISSION SUCCESS
The nations will be discipled and taught to obey prior to Christ’s final return. The Holy Spirit working through the Church in history ensures that the gates of hell shall not prevail. Our goal is not merely to snatch a number of souls from every nation, but to disciple and transform the nations themselves toward obedience to Christ (regeneration being the key), starting with the one in which we live.
COMPREHENSIVE CHRISTIANITY
We recognize that neutrality is a myth. We affirm that the Bible is authoritative over everything of which it speaks, and it speaks of everything. We will seek to apply biblical principles to every area of life, not ignoring any realm. Business, culture, education, welfare, economics, politics etc. None of these are “distractions,” but rather are integral to living as faithful servants of God in the Kingdom of God.
GOD’S LAW AS THE ABIDING STANDARD
We recognize the timeless and transcendent law of God exhibited in all of Scripture. God has separate spheres of authority and jurisdiction in the family, institutional Church and the civil magistracy. None of these institutions is supreme and none of them have any authority to infringe on the other. The civil magistrate is not God’s agent of welfare. The family is not God’s agent of ecclesiastical sanctions. The Church is not God’s agent of civil law and juridical procedure. Specifically regarding civil magistrates, we affirm that they possess no God given authority to act in any way beyond their allotted jurisdiction. The civil magistrate is bound by covenant to administer and positivize (put into practice) God’s transcendent laws, statutes, penalties and principles. These are those laws and penalties which were not particular to the shadow of God’s redemptive work through the political entity of national Israel. We deny that the civil magistrate has any right to “do whatever seems right in his own eyes” or allow the perceived dictates of “natural law” (as interpreted apart from God and His Word) to supersede the clear light of Scripture.
A LONG TERM OUTLOOK
In faith, we are focused on passing down the faith to the next generation and the generations to follow. It is not enough to teach our children to follow the Lord; we must teach our children to teach their children to follow Him. In every decision we make, we are cognizant of the ramifications for the generations to follow. We recognize that winning each one of our children to the mission is absolutely vital to the success of the great commission. This requires bringing them along with us in everything we do and showing them what walking with God looks like.
EVERYONE ON BOARD
Not everyone is called to pour over books endlessly or pursue the study of theology as a personal hobby. However, it is absolutely necessary to the long term success of the community that both men and women are poured into, that they might learn how to apply God’s law-word to every area of life. Not only for our own personal edification, but also so that we can train up the next generation. We need a vibrant community where the men, women, and children are all pursuing the mission, both as individuals, with their own individual purpose in the Kingdom, and together as a collective, among the people of God.
AN ENGAGED COMMUNITY
To the extent possible, we seek to live geographically close together (so we can edify, serve, and assist one another, the community around us, and build an authentic community), seeking to be strategic and tactical in everything we do. Children being included in worship; Men having regular meetings for accountability and edification in husbandhood, fathering, business, finances, political involvement, etc; getting help where they need help. Women having regular meetings to do the same (husbands working to support and guide their wives in this).
UNITY AND CHARITY ON THE SACRAMENTS
We jointly affirm that we are to yearn and pray for the regeneration of our children, discipling our children in the faith and looking for the fruit of authentic repentance. We jointly affirm that God continues to work by and through households in the New Covenant (including children who are considered holy and set apart by virtue of their belonging to a covenant family, e.g., 1 Cor. 7:14). Furthermore, children in believing households who are being discipled in the faith and being taught to obey the gospel should not be excluded from the Lord’s ordinances. They should be considered members of the congregation and members of the body of Christ, unless or until a child apostatizes.
CONFESSIONAL, REFORMED, AND EVANGELICAL
Cross & Crown Church is an assembly 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.