Our Beliefs

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Heartland Church is a biblically conservative evangelical congregation.  Our core beliefs are best expressed by the doctrinal statement known as the Baptist Faith and Message.

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Membership Covenant

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We encourage believers to become active members of Heartland Church and to enter into a covenant relationship with the other members of the church as they join our congregation.  Our membership covenant reads as follows:

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Having professed Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and followed by scriptural baptism, and agreeing with the purpose, principles and practices of Heartland Church, I now enter into a commitment with God and the members of this church as being led by the Holy Spirit to do the following:

 

1.  I will preserve the unity of my church:

 

My (Jesus) prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  (John 17:20-21)

 

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  (Philippians 2:1-2)

 

A.  By treating each member with love and respect

 

Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.(1 Peter 2:17)

 

B.  By keeping peace in the church by my words and actions

 

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. (Romans 12:16)

 

C.  By supporting the leadership

 

Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. (Hebrews 13:17)

 

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.  Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.  (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13)

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 2.  I will help with the responsibilities of my church:

 

A.  By praying for its health and growth

 

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.  We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3)

 

B.  By sharing the gospel

 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  (Acts 1:8)

 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8)

 

C.  By welcoming our guests and visitors

 

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.(Romans 15:7)

 

3.  I will serve in the ministries of my church:

 

A.  By finding and using my spiritual gifts

 

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10)

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​B.  By learning and growing through God’s Word

 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16,17)

 

C.  By being humble and serving where needed

 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:3-4)

 

4.  I will promote the witness and integrity of my church:

 

A.  By attending services faithfully

 

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  (Hebrews 10:24-25)

 

B.  By living a godly life

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For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age… (Titus 2:11-12)

 

C.  By giving financially

 

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.(2 Corinthians 9:7)

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Organizational Structure

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Heartland Church is a congregational church, meaning that the members seek to fulfill the Great Commission as a local group of believers under the headship of Jesus Christ and the authority of God's Word.  We voluntarily cooperate with other Southern Baptists at the local, state and national levels and do not receive any direction from a higher ecclesiastical authority such as a bishop, presbytery or synod.

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Our congregation holds annual church-wide meetings each June, approving a budget for the coming year, selecting leaders, presenting reports, and voting on decisions as necessary.  During the interim between annual business meeting the ministries of the congregation are guided by the church ministry council (who oversee the spiritual and financial aspects of the church) and the deacons (who oversee the practical, serving ministries of the church as well as its facilities).

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