Lighthouse Covenant Church holds to the following doctrinal distinctives:
We are Evangelical Christians, Reformed, and Complimentarian:
First, we are Evangelical Christians, agreeing with the doctrinal statement of the National Association of Evangelicals, which distinguishes us from other world religions and cults.
Second, we are Reformed:
We believe that God sovereignly and graciously regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and preserves those whom He has chosen in love to be united to Christ in the Gospel, and that this does not negate the responsibility of man to trust Christ as Savior and Lord.
We believe in the truths captured in the five solas of the Reformation:
- Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone): That the Bible is the sole infallible rule of faith for the church.
- Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus (grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone): That justification is not bestowed in consideration of any works or merit of our own, but by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ's obedience and death alone.
- Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone be the glory): That God rightly deserves all the glory for His sovereign work of salvation.
Third, we are Complimentarian: We believe that God created mankind male and female, that men and women are together created in the Divine Image and are therefore equal before God as persons, possessing the same moral dignity and value, and having equal access to God through faith in Christ. The essential equality and unity of redeemed men and women in Christ, nonetheless, does not negate God-assigned and ordained gender distinctions and nature of male and female.
Men and women are together the recipients of spiritual gifts designed to empower them for ministry in the local church and beyond. God’s intent for the church is for both men and women to be encouraged and equipped to minister and serve in the gifts He has given them in accordance with their assigned nature. In the home, both husbands and wives are responsible to God for spiritual nurturing and vitality, but God has given to the man primary responsibility as the head of the household, along with his wife, in consonance with the servant leadership and sacrificial love, modeled by Jesus Christ. The Elders (plural) of any local church have been endowed with authority under the headship of Jesus Christ to provide oversight, set an example of what is normative for the church, and serve the church through prayer and equipping. The office of Elder is restricted to men who are an example of what a godly man looks like leading a household.
[Genesis 1:26-27; 2:18; Acts 18:24-26; 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 3:1-7; Titus 2:3-5; 1 Peter 3:1-7]