What We Believe
We’re defined by what we stand for…
…not what we stand against.
Our Vision For Cherokee County
At HERITAGE, we believe individuals and families are searching for ways to lead lives that are holier, healthier and more complete than the lives they’re living now, so with energy, excellence and expectation we devote ourselves to developing holy habits in worship, building healthy Christian relationships through discipleship initiatives, and creating whole individuals, families and communities through missions and service opportunities so that we might become more like Christ and Cherokee County might look more like God’s kingdom.
Our Core Values
Energy-We do everything with energy, confident that God will renew our strength (Isaiah 40:31).
Excellence-We do everything with excellence, as if we were doing it directly for God, because we believe we are (Col 3:23).
Expectation-We do everything with the expectation that God will meet us in our work, because we believe God will (John 14:15-18).
It is our prayerful hope that these statements and core values will:
1. guide how we choose what we do and what we don’t do;
2. serve as a lens through which to evaluate our work;
3. provide clear ways to communicate who we are to both our members and those we seek to reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our Missions Partners
HERITAGE is proud to partner with CBF, CBF of Georgia, and MUST Ministries to accomplish the work of Christ and Christ's church at the local, state, national and global levels.
Our Baptist Heritage
We are committed as a church to these historic Baptist principles:
Soul Freedom
We affirm the freedom and responsibility of every person to relate directly to God without the imposition of creed or the control of clergy or government. We believe that this personal experience with God is indispensable to the Christian life and necessary for a vital church.
Bible Freedom
We believe the Bible, under the Lordship of Christ, is central to the life of the individual and the church. We affirm the freedom and right of every Christian to interpret and apply Scripture under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We also affirm that the wisdom and counsel of the larger congregation should nurture individual believers as they seek to interpret Scripture.
Church Freedom
We believe in the autonomy of the local church. We believe Baptist churches are free, under the Lordship of Christ, to determine their membership and leadership, and to order their membership and leadership, and to order their worship and work. We also believe that individual churches should work together to achieve goals that one church by itself could not reach.
Religious Freedom
We believe in freedom of religion, freedom for religion and freedom from religion. We believe that separation of church and state affords an important constitutional protection of that freedom.
Our Church Covenant
Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and, upon the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ,
We commit ourselves to living under the authority of Jesus Christ as revealed by the Holy Spirit.
We commit ourselves to the worship of God with dedication and devotion.
We commit ourselves to serious and systematic study of the Bible, the inspired word of God, and to seeking through the leadership of the Holy Spirit to understand and apply its truths to our daily lives.
We commit ourselves to regular and sacrificial giving of money, time and abilities.
We commit ourselves to preserve, promote and practice religious liberty by accepting and respecting the rights and responsibilities of the individual Christian, male and female, to live and minister as led by the Holy Spirit; by affirming the autonomy of the local church; by upholding the separation of church and state, and by respecting the freedom of all people in matters of conscience.
We commit ourselves to minister to one another and to the community by meeting physical needs, nurturing emotional well-being and fostering spiritual growth and maturity.
We commit ourselves to evangelism and missions, making known through word and deed the love of God and the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
We commit ourselves to voluntary cooperation with other churches in the body of Christ, demonstrating the power of God's love through our unity.
We commit ourselves to the free and open exchange of ideas concerning the governance of the church, trusting that the Holy Spirit uses this exchange to reveal God's will.
We commit ourselves to the faithful care and creative use of our land and buildings.
Believing that God offers and sustains this covenant relationship, relying on the power of God's love and grace and giving support to one another, we joyfully pledge to keep these promises. Amen.