DOCTRINAL PRINCIPLES
Reposing our faith wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, believing in the teachings and practices of the Baptists and those great distinctive principles for which they have ever stood, namely:
A. The preeminence of Christ as our divine Lord and Master;
B. The supreme authority of the Bible and its sufficiency as our only rule of                 faith and practice;
C. The right of private interpretation and the competency of the individual soul            in direct approach to God;
D. The absolute separation of Church and State;
E. A regenerate (born again) Church membership;
F. The beautiful, symbolic ordinance of believer’s baptism by immersion, in                 obedience to the command of Christ;
G. The biblical understanding of marriage as one (biological) male and one                 (biological) female committed to a life-long, monogamous relationship, thus           affirming the biblical standards of human sexuality; (This affirmation in no             way minimizes, negates, or contradicts our love and compassion for, and               our ministries to, single persons and divorced or remarried persons, both               lay people and professional church leaders.) *
H. The complete independence of the local church and its interdependence in             associated fellowship with other Baptist churches;
I. The solemn obligation of majority rule, guaranteeing equal rights for all and             special privilege to none;
J. The spiritual unity of all believers, for which the Master so earnestly prayed;
K. A world-wide program of missionary fervor and evangelism in obedience to           the final command of Christ;
L. The First Baptist Church of Tarentum, Pennsylvania explicitly reserves the             right to restrict, or refuse the use of all properties it owns for any event,                 ceremony or program judged by the church Administrative Board to be at               odds, and in conflict with the mission and teachings of this congregation,               the official policy of the Pittsburgh Baptist Association, ABCOPAD, or                     ABCUSA. *

* PBA Policy on Human Sexuality (11/19/2002), ABC Policy Statement on Family Life (6/1984), and biblical texts (Gen. 1:27, 2:24; Eph. 5:21-6:24)

                                                        COVENANT

We, the members of First Baptist Church of Tarentum, realizing the grace of our God and Father, reverently and solemnly undertake with His aid:
To cultivate, through prayer and meditation, a life of devotion and consecration to our God and to our Savior, Jesus Christ;
To aspire in our private lives to character and conduct that will be pleasing to God;
To order the life in our homes so that they may be truly Christian;
To plan family and private devotion;
To attend the worship services of our church faithfully;
To maintain in all our relationships with fellow members, an attitude of spiritual integrity, sympathy and love;
To cooperate in the redemptive, educational, and missional responsibilities of the church;
To respond in Christian love to the needs of those oppressed and exploited in the world;
To contribute a worthy percentage of our income to the financial support of the church;
To conduct ourselves in our social and business affairs in a manner consistent with our faith;
And to join the fellowship of another church of like faith, if we move from this community,