A Message from our Pastors
Welcome to Westminster Presbyterian Church! Thank you for visiting our website, which we try to keep current with information about what's happening in worship and various other aspects of our church life.
We hope it will help to put you in touch with upcoming events and opportunities, whether you are a long-time participant in Westminster or just learning about us. If you are just finding us, we encourage you to check out what's going on, read a sermon excerpt, learn something about Presbyterian beliefs, and see some pictures. Hopefully, this will give you a little sense of who we are.
We would love to have you come to church and worship with us! However, our worship services are livestreamed on Facebook every Sunday morning, so you could also opt to "visit" us virtually. Livestreaming began out of necessity in 2020 during the first months of the pandemic and turned out to be an important worship option for many folks for different reasons.
Our wonderful tech crew and dedicated musicians continue to work hard to make this work well for both in-person and virtual worshippers.
For the past few years, much of our church's ministry and mission have happened in new and different ways (such as via Zoom, outdoors, in very small groups, or on the phone). It was challenging, requiring us to be creative, flexible, and patient. But we were always committed to being the church, staying connected, worshiping God, supporting one another, and loving our neighbors. Now, more in-person activities have resumed, and we're very glad about that. But we changed in those pandemic years and learned some things. We realized that while some things may once again be "like before," very probably, we will continue to discover new ways of being church.
– Pastors Janet & Jerry Duggins
The leadership of a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation is shared by the pastors and the members through our representative form of government. Elders and Deacons are elected by and from the congregation and serve for terms of three years.
THE SESSION
The Session, which consists of the pastors and elders, is responsible for all the ministry, mission, and business of the congregation.
THE DEACONS
The Deacons carry out ministries of compassion and
service within and beyond the congregation.
Our Leadership
.webp)
A Brief Statement of Faith
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Loving us still,
God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant.
Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,
like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home,
God is faithful still.
We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
and binds us together with all believers in the one body of Christ, the church.
The same Spirit
who inspired the prophets and apostles
rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
engages us through the Word proclaimed,
claims us in the waters of baptism,
feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.
In a broken and fearful world
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit,
we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks
and to live holy and joyful lives,
even as we watch for God's new heaven and new earth,
praying, Come, Lord Jesus!
With believers in every time and place,
we rejoice that nothing in life or in death
can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In life and death we belong to God.
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God,
And the communion of the Holy Spirit,
we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve.
We trust in Jesus Christ,
Fully human, fully God.
Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
preaching good news to the poor and release to the captives,
teaching by word and deed and blessing the children,
healing the sick and binding up the brokenhearted,
eating with outcasts,forgiving sinners,
and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
Unjustly condemned for blasphemy and sedition,
Jesus was crucified,
suffering the depths of human pain
and giving his life for the sins of the world.
God raised Jesus from the dead,
vindicating his sinless life,
breaking the power of sin and evil,
delivering us from death to life eternal.
We trust in God,
whom Jesus called Abba, Father.
In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God's image
male and female, of every race and people,
to live as one community.
But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator. Ignoring God's commandments, we violate the image of God in others and ourselves, accept lies as truth, exploit neighbor and nature, and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.
We deserve God's condemnation. Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation. In everlasting love, the God of Abraham and Sarah chose a covenant people to bless all families of the earth. Hearing their cry, God delivered the children of israel from the house of bondage.
Address
1515 Helen Avenue
Portage, MI 49002
Contact
Office Hours
Monday 9a–4:30p
Wednesday 9a–4:30p
Thursday 9a–4:30p