Baxter Congregational Church is first and foremost a church. The church is the united body of all Christ’s people living out resurrection life through Christ’s rule and reign. But specifically Baxter Congregational is a local church. One writer says “a local church is a mutually-affirming group of new covenant members and kingdom citizens, identified by regularly gathering together in Jesus’ name through preaching the gospel and celebrating the ordinances.” Therefore we are a regional body of believers who live out Christ’s rule and reign together by regularly participating in the ordinary means of grace of preaching, prayer, scripture reading, Christ’s sacraments, and the singing  of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs in order to  build up and affirm one another in Christian faithfulness.

 

Baxter Congregational Church is also Congregational. Congregationalism is a form of church government which we believe Jesus uses to guide the church in bringing about His rule and reign upon the earth. Congregational means that everyone in the congregation is empowered by  the Word & the Holy Spirit to work as one unified body in order to live out Christ’s rule and reign together. Congregationalism is our practice but Congregationalist is our tradition. Congregationalists were part of the Puritan movements. Puritans were an “evangelical holiness movement” in the protestant reformation that had a vision of a big God who is sovereign over all things and they applied this vision to all of life. We continue to teach the bible from this reformed and evangelical tradition.

The Bible teaches that all are sinners who have fallen short of an Almighty and Holy God (Rom 3:23),  and that Jesus Christ, the only son of God (1 John 4:9), came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15) and lived a perfect life, died upon a cross, and rose from the grave according to the scriptures to be a one time sacrifice to atone for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) that all those who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). So that those whom He chose would be made Holy before Him (Eph. 1:4), that we may be drawn to conform our lives to the beauty and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29), that by Him working in us we will persevere in holiness as Children of God (Phil 2:13). As we continue in the traditions of our forefathers we believe and proclaim that “We have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, for the glory of God alone.”

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Baxter Congregational Church is therefore a Congregationalist local church in Baxter Iowa. We have been gathering in Baxter for over 130 years. As a community of faith we are deeply connected to Baxter. If we look in the Bible, we see multiple letters in the New Testament, like Ephesians or Philippians, which are addressed to local churches. This highlights that the early churches were also communities gathered in a local region who, like us, were deeply invested and formed by the culture of the community around them. Similarly we as Baxter Congregational Church seek to express the culture and traditions of Baxter and the central Iowa region. We pray for the community, and seek to be a gospel witness as we support the Baxter Bolts, shop local, and participate in the events and happenings of our community. Our practices are uniquely formed by the traditions and culture of our town. 

Therefore Baxter Congregational Church is a small joyful place to grow.

Come Worship with Us!

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