HBC’s purpose statement from our constitution says, “The purpose of this church shall be to bring honor and glory to God through 1) fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8) via the local, regional, national and worldwide proclamation of the Gospel of Christ so that souls might be saved, 2) the edification and equipping for ministry of Christians through the teaching of God’s Word, 3) the promotion of biblical worship, 4) participation in the establishment of additional local churches with similar purposes, and 5) service to one another within the body of Christ.”

We sometimes restate this in simpler terms as, “Heritage Bible Church exists to bring glory to God by preaching the truth of the Bible so believers are equipped to worship God, serve God, serve each other, bring others to Christ, and plant churches throughout the world.”

Based on passages like Hebrews 10:25, we believe we are commanded to meet together regularly for fellowship. That is, to carry out the Bible’s many “one another” commands such as “encourage one another” and “pray for each other”. We believe the Bible shows us these times of gathering should include singing praises to God, reading His Word, prayer, and the expository preaching of God’s Word, the Bible. Expository preaching means preaching through books of the Bible, passage by passage, in an orderly fashion, allowing the Bible’s words, which were inspired by God the Holy Spirit, to teach us the “whole counsel of God”. Our doctrinal statement highlights our commitment to the plain, historical, grammatical interpretation of God’s Word as the final authority for all matters of the church and life in general.

HBC is an elder led church with the elders communicating regularly with our members, including at least two congregational meetings each year. As stated in our constitution, but more importantly in several New Testament passages including 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, men must meet certain standards to be elders in the local church. The New Testament teaches that elders have responsibility to protect, care for, teach, and lead the local church. Our elders meet at least once each month for prayer and deliberation on matters important to HBC fulfilling God’s commands for the local church. Our elders submit key matters, as specified by our constitution (add link to our constitution), for confirmation by vote of the members. These matters include confirmation of the annual budget, any new elders or deacons, expenditures exceeding five percent of the annual budget, and the calling of pastoral staff.

Membership is not required to be welcome in our church gatherings. We encourage regular attenders of HBC who are followers of Jesus Christ, that is, who have repented of their sins and have placed faith in Christ alone to pay the penalty for their sins, to become members. Church membership, while not a biblical command, allows HBC’s elders to know those who are placing themselves and their families under the elders’ spiritual protection, care, teaching, and leadership. Membership is a way for us to commit ourselves to each other to carry out the New Testament’s commands for the Church at this particular local church. Members must commit to faithful participation in HBC’s weekly gathering, to use their spiritual gifts to carry out the ministries of HBC, to prayerfully as well as financially support the work of HBC, to submit to the spiritual leadership of HBC’s elders, to abide by the constitution of HBC, and to be in full agreement with the church’s doctrinal position as stated in HBC’s constitution. Those interested in membership should contact an HBC elder regarding the application process. You may have questions about some aspects of HBC’s doctrinal statement. We welcome the opportunity to share with you the firm basis we find for these doctrines in the text of Scripture. Agreement with HBC’s doctrine is not required for participation in HBC’s ministries.

We are a member of IFCA International, a worldwide affiliation of churches with whom we share our key doctrinal positions, with which we enjoy fellowship several times a year, and through whom we have access to sound teaching resources. You can learn more about our affiliation with IFCA International here

HBC seeks to support parents in the primary role of training their children via teaching of Bible based lessons. Each of our teachers is an HBC member who is in full agreement with HBC’s doctrine as stated in our constitution. Our current children’s ministries are described on our Ministries page

We welcome all to join us regularly for our Sunday worship service and other ministry activities which are listed here. Please address any questions you have about HBC to one of our elders.