Our Beliefs
Avenue Church in Edmonton, Alberta belongs to a larger body of churches known as the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA). Our beliefs can be summarized in three creeds, written centuries ago and adopted by the worldwide church: they are the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. These three creeds attest to the reality and the mystery of the Trinity: that our God is one God in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – a perfect community of love.
We Believe in The Trinity
We believe God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that He is a being of unimaginably wonderful power, goodness, and love. Psalm 118:1, Psalm 145:1–9, Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14
We Believe in Creation
We believe the world exists because God created it, that it belongs to Him and therefore we should cherish and care for it. Further, all that is good and beautiful points to a Creator God. Thus all humans can know something about God through what creation reveals. Genesis 1:1, Psalm 24:1–2, Isaiah 40:25–26, 1 Corinthians 10:26, Romans 1:19-20
We Believe in People
We believe all human beings have dignity because they were created by God in His own image, and great worth because they are valued by God beyond our ability to measure. Genesis 1:27, 31, Psalm 8:3–6, John 3:16, Romans 5:8
We Believe in Sin
We believe this world also has pain and suffering because human beings have fallen and sinned, and are estranged from God, from each other, from ourselves, and from creation. Genesis 3:17, Romans 3:23, Colossians 1:21,
We Believe in God's Redemptive Plan
We believe God does not intend for sin and suffering to get the last word, but is at work to redeem and reconcile what He has made. Isaiah 11:6–9, Colossians 1:21–23, Revelation 21:1–5
We Believe in The Father
We believe that the first person of the Trinity is the one Jesus revealed to us as “the Father.” God is not some remote, unknowable spiritual entity. Rather God is our loving, powerful heavenly Father. Genesis 1 and 2, Psalm 33:6, Acts 4:24
We Believe in Jesus The Son
We believe God has expressed himself uniquely in His Son Jesus, who lived, taught, died, and rose again for our sakes. Jesus is our master and teacher and saviour and friend, and now reigns forever with the Father and the Holy Spirit. John 14:6–7, Acts 2:32, 1 Corinthians 15:3–4, Ephesians 2:13,Colossians 1:15–20, Philippians 2:5–11,
We Believe in The Holy Spirit
We believe the Spirit of God is now available so we can be closer to God than the air we breathe. John 14:26, Acts 1:8,Romans 8:26, Galatians 3:14, Ephesians 1:13–14
We Believe in The Church
We believe the Church is the community through which God wants to bring love, healing, and growth to the human race, to which He invites everyone who is willing to follow Jesus to join. Matthew 18:18–20, John 1:12–13, Acts 1:8, Galatians 3:28, 1 Peter 2:9
We Believe in Eternity
We live in hope because one day Jesus will return, love and justice will prevail, and God will set the world right. Matthew 24:30–31, Luke 12:40, Romans 8:37–39, Revelation 21:1–5 have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
A further summary of the basic tenets of our faith, the authority that the Bible holds in forming our beliefs as well as an explanation of the things that give us our “Reformed Accent” can be found on the CRCNA’s website.
Our Values
A Community to Belong In
We believe that the church of Jesus is a community of sinners, saved by God’s grace. We are a diverse community, drawn together by God’s love. God gathers us together to praise Him for who He is and all that He has done as he brings love, healing and wholeness into our lives. (See Isaiah 61:1-3) He also gathers us that we might love and encourage one another. (See Ephesians 4:11-13) Avenue Church is a place to belong in, no matter your past, your culture or where you find yourself in life.
The church also finds itself belonging in the context of a larger community, be it a neighbourhood or city. As it grows within the district of Alberta Avenue, Avenue Church will continue to hear and share in the stories of our neighbours.
A Community to Serve With
We believe that the church of Jesus is also a community that is sent by God to serve others. The church is to act as a witness to the love and justice of God to a world that is broken and corrupted. It is to share, both through word and deed, the Good News that Jesus Christ has come to “proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free.” (See Luke 4:18-20)
In serving our community, Avenue Church is not seeking to reinvent the wheel. We see that there are already an incredible number of churches and organizations seeking the well-being of the Alberta Avenue, the City of Edmonton and beyond. Our desire is to see how we might creatively and effectively partner with these groups while remaining true to our calling as followers of Jesus. Where there is a need within our community and city, we hope to be able to step in and bring the love, justice and mercy of Jesus in a meaningful and imaginative way.
Lodgepole Communitas
One of the ways we embody our values is through being one of the entry points for a larger ministry umbrella called Lodgepole Communitas.
Our Mission
“Called together by God’s love, Avenue Church seeks to bring God glory by living out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission in the neighbourhood of Alberta Avenue, the city of Edmonton, and the global community.”
The Great Commandment invites us to love God with all of our being and to love our neighbour as ourselves. (see Matthew 22:36-40) The Great Commission compels us, as followers of Jesus, to spread the Good News of God’s love, forgiveness and justice and to make disciples, in our neighbourhoods, our cities and to the ends of the earth. (see Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8)