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ISSUES OF GOD & HUMANITY
Does God choose who will be saved and who will not?
We affirm that God loves all whom He has created, that He desires all to be saved, and that Christ died for all people (1 Tim 2.4, 1 Jn. 2.2). All who perish do so of their own volition.

Is all suffering ordained by God?
We affirm that while God may use suffering to discipline His children and punish sinners, people suffer primarily because the world is under the control of the evil one (1 Jn. 5.19). Following Jesus and the NT example, we thus commit ourselves to helping, not judging, people who are in pain and waging spiritual warfare against manifestation of evil such as suffering, etc.

Does God foreknow all that shall come to pass, including future free decisions? We affirm the omniscience of God with regard to the past, present and future. We also recognize the current disagreement among evangelical Christians about the biblical data regarding the content of the future that God perfectly knows. All views hold that God is omniscient, but some interpret this to mean that God knows all things that shall come to pass, while others hold that the some aspects of the future are not exhaustively "settled." Within the bounds of the whole-hearted affirmation of God's omniscience, we recognize both positions as legitimate evangelical options.

As a local church, we hold no single position on this issue. We welcome those who affirm Open Theism as well as Conventional Theism. As with many issues within the church today, we encourage 'unity in the essential things, freedom in the non-essential things, and agape-love in all things.'

ISSUES INVOLVING THE HOLY SPIRIT
What is a Spirit-Filled Christian?
We are a Trinitarian church, which means we welcome the ministry of the Holy Spirit as part of the Holy Trinity. Dr. Paul L. King reports:

Alliance leaders believed that all the gifts of the Spirit should be present in every church. (A.B.)Simpson asked again and again, “Why may we not have all the supernatural ministries of the Early Church . . . even tongues, without making them a controversy?”¹

We believe that all Christians should seek an ongoing experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit to live as people of the presence of God.

We also affirm renowned Pentecostal theologian Gordon Fee's definition of the essence of Pentecostalism and the Pentecostal experience:

The essential matter…is neither subsequence, nor tongues, but the Spirit Himself as a dynamic, empowering presence; and there seems to me to be little question that our way of initiation in that-through an experience of Spirit-baptism-has biblical validity. Whether all must go through that route seems to me to be more moot; but in any case, the Pentecostal experience itself can be defended on exegetical ground as a thoroughly biblical phenomenon. ²

What is the significance of the 'baptism/infilling of the Holy Spirit'?
We affirm that there is an experience, primarily subsequent to conversion, of being 'filled' with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18). This experience is primarily for the purpose of empowering a believer for ministry and holy living (Acts 1:8).

Are the 'Gifts of the Spirit' for Today?
We affirm that the gifts of the Spirit are for every believer today, though they are not to be used as 'criteria' of one's spirituality. They are to be used in appropriate contexts and within the New Testament guidelines (I Cor. 12-14).

Are 'Tongues' the 'evidence' of the 'Baptism/infilling of the Holy Spirit'?
We affirm the value of speaking in tongues and ask the question why not speak in tongues? We affirm that this gift is available for all believers. We deny that it is the single necessary 'evidence' of receiving the infilling/baptism of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore we insist that speaking in tongues/ecstatic speech should not be used as a "spiritual criteria" or status marker in the Body of Christ.

What about 'holy laughter' and being 'slain in the Spirit'?
We affirm that various extraordinary manifestations of the Holy Spirit are possible, even those not listed specifically in Scripture, we deny that they should be made into any sort of "spiritual criteria" and certainly should not be "mimicked", regardless of motive, or sought after.

ISSUES INVOLVING MINISTRY
Can women be leaders in the church?
We affirm that ministerial authority is based upon a person's character and giftedness, not his or her gender.

Can people who have been divorced and remarried be leaders in the church?
We affirm the strong Biblical teaching on the centrality of the covenant of marriage; we deny that ANY sin, including whatever sin was involved in a believer's past divorce, in and of itself permanently disqualifies a person from ministering. (In the C&MA the local church does not credential/ordain ministers-this is a district/national level function of our fellowship.)

ISSUES INVOLVING CHRISTIAN LIVING

Can Christians use mood-altering substances?
In keeping with the teachings of Scripture, we reject the use of illegal substances (Rom. 13.1-2). While recognizing the role of individual conscience in deciding certain matters, we reject the addictive and/or immoderate use of any substance (Gal. 5.13, 1 Cor. 8.10-13).

What should Christians do about "Culture of Life" issues?
Abortion: While not endorsing any particular political position or politician as a Church, we affirm on the basis of Scripture the preciousness of life in the womb. On this basis we commit ourselves to encouraging and assisting women to go through with their pregnancy, while also committing ourselves to graciously assist in the healing process of women who have chosen otherwise.

We emphasize our desire to fight the lie that abortion is an "option." And furthermore show women grace instead of judgment and mercy instead of condemnation so they might see our church as truly pro-life, full of God's grace and life-transforming power. We acknowledge that only in this spirit can we truly protect the life of the un-born by ministering to the heart of the mother first and foremost.

Human Experimentation (Born and unborn), Euthanasia, Death Penalty and War: We recognize that we cannot give life. We also recognize that there is Biblical debate on how to interpret Hebrew Bible in light of Jesus teachings on loving your enemies.

We see killing, murder, and ending of human life by another human as (generally) at best a sinful response to a sin-filled situation.

Therefore we have a bias towards the preservation of life, affirm a holistic "pro-life" ethic, and do not see violence against life as a "blessed by God" solution to the evil of this world.

What are the appropriate roles of husband and wife in a Christian marriage?
We affirm that biblical paradigm of a God-centered, agape-oriented covenant marriage relationship. We also recognize the disagreement among evangelical Christians regarding the nature of gender roles within marriage. Some believe the Bible teaches a timeless principle of male headship, where headship is defined as the model of servant-leadership exemplified by Jesus Christ. Others believe that the idea of male headship expressed in Scripture is a culturally-conditioned teaching, and that the ideal model of marriage is that of mutual submission and leadership by gifting, within an egalitarian relationship. We believe that, when guided by the principles of agape-love and servant-leadership, either model of gender roles in marriage can serve to foster God-glorifying covenant-marriages. To that end, we offer the following biblical challenge and encouragement.

(1) To those couples who follow the model of male headship: Husbands strive to avoid both self-centered control and worldly authoritarianism, and seek to exemplify the self-sacrificial servant-leadership demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ toward his bride, the church. Wives, strive to avoid both selfish independence or passive apathy in the marriage, and seek to exemplify the active, passionate submission that characterizes the church's love for its eternal groom, Jesus Christ.

(2) To those couples who follow the egalitarian model: Strive to avoid a marriage characterized by indecision, and seek to lead and/or follow in the various areas of your marriage as God has gifted each of you. In all things, exemplify a heart-attitude of submission toward each other, after the pattern of self-sacrificial servanthood demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ toward our heavenly Father.

Is it God's will for Christians to always be "healthy, wealthy and prosperous"?
We affirm that health and wealth can be a blessing from the Lord; we deny that sickness or poverty are necessarily evidences of a lack of faith or of sin in a person's life. Following the example of Jesus, we understand sickness and poverty primarily as works of the kingdom of darkness. Thus we affirm that one of the Kingdom responsibilities of those who are blessed with health and wealth is to help those who are sick and/or in poverty.

Can a Christian be "demon possessed"?
We acknowledge that a Christian can never have their spirit "possessed" or controlled by demons, we affirm that Christians can be significantly influenced by demonic power and stand in need of deliverance ministry.

PLEASE NOTE
This is a summary of the most common controversial issues. For issues not covered here please contact the pastoral staff.

In addition, these statements may not reflect the views of other Christian & Missionary Alliance churches. The official website of the C&MA, U.S. has a "beliefs" section at www.cmalliance.org. Some issues we have official statements on, while most others are suggested or considered "commonly understood" but not official or binding and do not limit ones involvement in our fellowship. Such issues are generally understood to be matters of "personal conviction."

There are generally 3-levels of delineating positions: "Biblical Convictions", on which we base our fellowship; "Fellowship/Group Convictions", which are generally derived from Scripture, but do not carry the same authority; and "Personal Convictions", which are the preferences of individuals-these should never be used to exclude others from leadership or fellowship.

¹"Genuine Gold: If it looks supernatural, is it really from God?," in Alliance Life (ALife), October 2004
²"The Issue of Subsequence and Separability," in Gospel and Spirit, 111