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.
Cross & Crown is a founding member of the Fellowship of Christian Reconstructionist Churches (FCRC).
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 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, and a proper theology of work, individual purpose, and commitment to the world around each of us.
FAMILY GOVERNMENT
Family government is about understanding that each covenant family is a little church, 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 and parenting roles, and the treatment of children as covenant members of the Church of God.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT
Church government is less about political posturing and more about mission. Pastors and elders are called to take the word of God and prayer and equip God’s people to do serious 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, Kingdom work through the Body of Christ, a discerning cooperation with other Christians in other assemblies, Lord’s Day worship, and the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT
Civil government, according to Scripture (e.g. Romans 13:1-7), is designed as an institution from God to execute God’s wrath on the evil-doer. Since we love both the law and gospel of God, we desire justice for our selves and our neighbors. Our involvement in politics stems from our conviction that Jesus is truly King, and that all civil leaders are to obey Him (e.g., Psalm 2).
Therefore, we will promote the necessity of: Christian activism, the proper pursuit of justice, involvement in local, state, and national politics, the doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate, and the work of abolition.
DISTINCTIVES OF CROSS & CROWN CHURCH
BIG GOSPEL
The message of reconciliation of God and Man through the cross goes hand in hand with the arrival of the Messiah and his Kingdom which has come. Both of which constitute the “good news” of the Gospel which we are to proclaim. Not just individual salvation from the wrath of God, but inextricably from this that Christ as the Messiah has inherited the nations and calls us to obedience.
OPTIMISTIC ESCHATOLOGY/GREAT COMMISSION SUCCESS
The nations will be discipled and taught to obey prior to Christ’s 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. As Van Til wrote: “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 seen in all of scripture which never changes. God has separate spheres of authority and jurisdiction in the Family, Institutional Church and the civil magistrate. 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 justice. Specifically with regard to the civil magistrate, we affirm that they have no God given authority to act in any way beyond their allotted jurisdiction/goal, which is to punish evil doers. The civil magistrate is bound to administer God’s transcendent laws, statutes, penalties and principles. These are those laws and penalties which were not related to the shadow of God’s redemptive work through the political entity of national Israel. Proportionate penalties. Restitution. Equal scales. Due Process. Impartiality. 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” 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. 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. That requires bringing them along with us in everything we do and showing them what walking with God looks like. Which leads to the next distinctive.
EVERYONE ON BOARD
As R.C. Sproul says, “Everyone is a theologian, the only question is: will you be a good one or a bad one?” Not everyone is called to pour over books endlessly or pursue the study of theology as a personal hobby. But 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
Not only will we seek to live geographically close together (so we can edify and help each other, the community around us, serve one another and build an authentic community) we will seek to be strategic and tactical in everything we do. Children being included in worship. Men having regular meetings for accountability and edification in husbanding, fathering, business and finances, political involvement etc. Getting help where they need help. Women having regular weekly meetings to do the same (husbands working to support and guide their wives in this). A vibrant schooling community where the gifts of the body are leveraged. Feasts, wine and fellowship.
UNITY AND CHARITY ON THE SACRAMENTS
Due to our most ultimate unity in Christ and because of our unity in so many areas of the faith, we will not refuse to commune or refuse to jointly pursue the great commission because of differences between the credobaptist and paedobaptist positions, or the credocommunion / paedocommunion positions (we leave this to the private judgment of mature believers). Further, eligibility for the station of elder will not hinge on a particular position on this topic. This is not to say that these are not important issues, or that these topics are something to be avoided. Further, in full humility and transparency we affirm that it is true that one side of these positions is in error and is therefore sinful by either withholding baptism/the Lord’s supper where it should be administered, or for administering baptism/the Lord’s supper where it should be withheld. The long term vision is that the congregation (and the universal catholic church as a whole) would arrive at one position or the other. We seek God’s mercy and the Spirit’s leading in pursuing greater and greater holiness and fidelity to his commands. In the meantime, we commit ourselves to winsomeness and charity in all discussions on these issues. This being grounded in the recognition that both sides are seeking to understand and obey the scriptures regardless of our traditions. We can 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 (1 Cor 7:14). Further, children in believing households who are being discipled in the faith and being taught to obey the gospel should be considered members of the congregation and members of the body of Christ, unless and until a child apostatizes.