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BELIEFS

What is our purpose?  What do we believe?

 

MISSION STATEMENT

 

A place set apart to encounter Jesus

VISION STATEMENT

 

Honoring God by providing camp experiences, sharing the gospel, and equipping Christ-followers.

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STATEMENT OF FAITH

Hidden Acres Christian Center operates in full agreement with the EFCA Statement of Faith from June 19, 2019. You can read the full Statement of Faith with scripture references here.

 

GOD

We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

THE BIBLE

We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

THE HUMAN CONDITION

We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.

JESUS CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel's promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

THE WORK OF CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

THE CHURCH

We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

CHRISTIAN LIVING

We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

CHRIST'S RETURN

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

RESPONSE AND ETERNAL DESTINY

We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

ADDENDUM

 

In addition to the Evangelical Free Church of America Statement of Faith, Hidden Acres has the following sincerely held beliefs in relation to marriage and gender/sexual identity:

A.  Holding the Scriptures as our final authority, Hidden Acres believes in a biblical view of sexual purity prior to marriage, faithfulness within the context of marriage, and that marriage is defined as a union between one man and one woman.


Scripture clearly conveys that homosexual activity falls outside of God’s design for human sexuality, and such behavior is therefore immoral and sinful. (Genesis 19:4-5; Leviticus 18:22-23; Leviticus 20:13; Judges 19:22-23; Romans 1:18-25; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Timothy 1:8-11) Beyond these specific references to homosexuality, the whole of Scripture bears witness to the fact that God created human sexuality to be practiced only within the marriage relationship between a biological male and a biological female. All references to sexual temptation, promiscuity, impurity, unfaithfulness, etc.; must therefore be understood to apply as much to homosexual activity as to heterosexual activity. Similarly, references to one’s body being the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19); the command to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1), to “die to sins” (1 Peter 2:24), and to “crucify the sinful nature with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24) apply to temptation associated with same-sex attraction and homosexual behavior just as they do to heterosexual temptation. Sexual intimacy between members of the same sex does not align with God’s design for human sexuality, which is limited to sexual intimacy between a biological male and a biological female within a biblically-founded heterosexual marriage relationship. As such, sexual activity that occurs between members of the same sex falls outside of God’s design for human intimacy.

B.  We believe that God creates human beings in His own image as two distinct sexes (or genders), male and female, as determined by their biological sex at birth. We believe that sex and gender are synonymous in God’s creation.


Scripture outlines and confirms God’s perfect plan in creating humans as distinctly male and distinctly female, an immutable binary gender distinction identified at birth in accordance with an individual’s biology and DNA sequencing (Genesis 1:27, 2:18, 21-24,5:2; Mark 10:6-8; 1 Corinthians 14:33). We further recognize the supremacy and authority of God to determine, define, and express each person’s gender as demonstrated biologically at birth. We believe that each person is able to submit to God’s sovereign will with respect to the person’s birth gender (Isaiah 64:8; Psalm 139:13-16; James 4:7). The individual’s gender at birth is intended to guide his or her foundational role in the family and in other relationships throughout his or her life (Genesis 1:27-28; Mark 10:6-9; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 2:11-15; Titus 2:3-5). Any person who embraces a gender and/or gender characteristics other than the gender that he or she is given by God at birth is acting in a manner that is contrary to God’s good design. Treating gender as other than an immutable trait from birth is also contrary to God’s good design for the family and His design for other interpersonal relationships. (Genesis 2:18, 24; 1 Peter 3:7; Ephesians 5:22-23, 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21). Actions, behaviors and beliefs that foster gender misalignment contradict God’s intended biological design, and such activity is therefore immoral and sinful (Genesis 1:27, 31; Psalm 139:13-16; Isaiah 5:20).

ELUCIDATION

Hidden Acres Christian Center is a decidedly Christian ministry of the Central District of the Evangelical Free Church of America and our statement of faith reflects this association.   Several different denominations are also represented among the Hidden Acres staff and leadership. Consequently, our doctrinal statement is used to express where we, as an organization, stand as it pertains to foundational Christian doctrine. We understand that some camper guests may hold differing beliefs. Our desire is to provide a safe place for all guests to engage in a Christ-centered, others-focused and seriously fun experience and it would be a violation of our deeply held beliefs to host camp for individuals who actively contradict our core principles and distract from our mission. Therefore, we require rental groups/campers while at camp to act in accordance with our beliefs stated above and conduct themselves in a way that is consistent with what we believe to be God’s teaching on these subjects. (Our heart is for all campers to have a great experience, so in order to serve all our campers well, we have rooming policies that could impact prospective campers.)

Due to our overnight camp setting, Hidden Acres has constraints when assigning housing for campers with gender identity concerns. In any cabin there are many campers whose comfort and safety need to be considered. Taking all of this into account, we will continue to house our campers and use restrooms based on biological gender at birth.

 

We also understand that any written statements about this topic can be complicated. We highly encourage parents with questions to contact a camp director to process any concerns.

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