Covenant Baptist Church

On Thursday, October 18, 2007 this congregation voted to change its name to Covenant Baptist Church of Acton, Maine. Names are important. Often they reflect both realities and desires. Throughout the Bible we see several names changed to reflect changes in the lives and ministries of God’s People.

Abram's name was changed to Abraham because God was going to make him a father of many nations (Genesis 17:5);

Sarai's name was changed to Sarah because God was going to make her a mother of nations. Kings of many nations would descend from her (Genesis 17:15-16);

Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, to reflect his role in the development of God’s chosen people. (Genesis 35:6-15);

In the New Testament we read that Jesus renamed Simon. He called him Peter, a name which can also be translated “rock” (John 1:42);

Saul of Tarsus was also called Paul because he was a new creation and he was to minister to the Greek-speaking world (Acts 13:9).

The name Covenant Baptist Church was derived from the desire on the part of our membership to reflect who we are and what we stand for. It is a reflection of both what we have become as children of God and how we wish to continue to serve our God.

The word Covenant refers to the pact or agreement which God made with man to be our God. The word is used nearly 300 times in the Bible. Genesis 17:7 states it this way, “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” God has kept His covenant with man and will continue to do so throughout eternity.

The word Baptist refers to a certain set of distinctives within our theology, such as the form of baptism and the autonomy of each congregation. Many congregations change their names to remove their theological distinctiveness and become more homogenous. We are not ashamed to be called Baptists.

Church refers to congregations of those who gather to worship God and to follow Christ in obedience. We are not a social club or a social activism organization, although there are both social and activist elements in our obedience.

Members of Covenant Baptist Church desire to become closer to the God of the eternal covenant and to become the people He wants us to be. We welcome others to join us as we continue to worship God and learn more about both Him and ourselves. As the catechism states, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” We here at CBC invite you to come along with us as we seek to grow in our ability to glorify and enjoy our covenant God. May He be praised!

Introduction

Nestled on the state line between Maine and New Hampshire, Covenant Baptist Church has a rich history, dating back to 1779, when the first congregation was formed. The first building was erected in 1818, then replaced by the current house of worship in 1840. The building was moved - by oxen - to its present location in 1873. Some 40 ministers have served Covenant Baptist Church, with the current pastor, Rev. Dr. J. Curtis Lovelace beginning his duties here in January, 2004.

As old as the congregation is, however, we are forward-looking in our vision for Acton, Milton Mills and the surrounding communities. The congregation is associated with the Conservative Baptist Association (www.cbamerica.org) and is evangelical in its beliefs and practices. Most importantly, we believe that the Bible is the answer for what ails our society and our families. We are convinced that modern men and women must look back to the words of the Holy Scripture and accept the offer of the Gospel in order to be complete.

We would like YOU to be a part of our fellowship.

For more information email Pastor Lovelace or call the church office at 207-477-8734.

What We Believe

People who attend our church come from all type of different experiences and backgrounds. Some come from churches of different types such as Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc. Others come with no church or religious background at all. Suddenly, they find themselves at a Baptist Church. What does that mean? Many have understood the Baptist church by its common stereotypes, but we can assure you that CBC is not your stereotypical church. We are unique. We believe church should be exciting, yet without compromising the truth of God’s Word, the Bible.

Our theological identity is described below, but know that however you describe yourself, you are welcome to learn with us, worship God with us, and enjoy the fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Theological Identity of Covenant Baptist Church

The most important question you can ask regarding a church is, “What does the church believe and teach?” The fact that you are reading this article is a good indication that you, too, believe this to be an essential issue.

While this article may not answer every question you have about Covenant Baptist Church, we do want to assist guests and inquirers in learning more about us.

We are convinced that the church must not be so broadly open that it fails to make vitally important distinctions that the Bible itself makes. At the same time, however, we do not insist that every person share the same precise set of theological convictions on every matter. In other words, there are negotiables and non-negotiables when it comes to doctrinal distinctives. To be more specific, Covenant Baptist Church is and will be characterized accurately with the following terms:

We are evangelical

To say that we are evangelical means that we take our stand with those who believe in what are called “the fundamentals” of the Christian faith: the existence of the triune God, the complete humanity and deity of Jesus Christ, the virgin conception of Christ and His incarnation as the eternal Son of God, the utter sinfulness of all humanity, the substitutionary death of Christ as the only way of salvation, the physical resurrection of Christ, His sure return, salvation by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone, and the infallibility and divine authority of the Bible as a faithful and true guide to what we are to believe and how we are to live.

We joyfully affirm our unity with those from every tradition and denomination that hold these fundamentals, including those true believers in Christ who are members of denominations or churches with which we might have certain theological or doctrinal disagreements in other areas.

We are evangelistic

This means we take seriously the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Without compromising the sovereignty of God, we affirm the responsibility of each person to repent and believe on Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We further affirm our responsibility to extend the message of the Gospel as a call to salvation to everyone who hears its message. To this end, we call all, without distinction, to drink freely of the Water of Life and to live eternally in the presence of their Creator.

This privilege and responsibility is realized not only in our immediate context, but also in the mandate from our Lord to declare His glory to the nations. Therefore, we seek to provide regular opportunities for the community of believers at Covenant Baptist Church to go on mission trips to other parts of the world, both near and far.

We are Reformed

The word “Reformed” can be defined simply in two ways: (1) It is a reference to our historical link to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century and describes us as heirs of the tradition that comes from Luther, Calvin, Knox, Zwingli, and other Reformers of the Church. (2) The word “Reformed” is used most commonly to refer to certain theological distinctives that have marked Reformation believers, particularly those who embrace what have come to be referred to as “the doctrines of grace.”

These distinctives can be summarized by our glad affirmation of the responsibility of every person to repent and believe, and that it is God who, by His sovereign electing grace, draws men and women, otherwise dead in sin, to faith in His Son. By this faith alone are God’s people justified.

Reformed distinctives include the sovereignty of God in His creation, providence and election of believers apart from any merit of their own; the irresistible grace of God provided for and preceding the faith of the individual; the sufficiency of God’s grace apart from which every person is dead in sin and wholly defiled in all his/her faculties of soul and body; the efficacy of Christ’s death for all those who believe in Him by grace; the safe-guarding of all those for whom Christ died for eternal life.

We desire and seek to hold to our Reformed convictions humbly, recognizing the sincerity and earnestness of godly men and women who hold to other positions.

We are committed to doctrinal soundness

This is primarily expressed by means of a doctrinal statement that we believe is a good and accurate summary of the Bible’s teaching. We certainly recognize that our expression of biblical truth is not flawless, yet we believe it to be a carefully worded summary of the Bible’s content. We believe it is important to note that every church has a doctrinal confession or statement, even though some may claim they have “no confession but Christ” or “no creed but the Bible.” Every church summarizes its convictions in some form in order to distinguish its members from those who are not believers or those who do not embrace their church’s distinctives.

We further recognize that knowledge alone leads invariably to pride. It is our sincere desire to affirm truth in genuine Christian love. We believe that truth properly applied will issue forth in the affections of the heart being stirred to obedience, thus yielding a life that glorifies God. Such a God-glorifying life is the very purpose for our existence.

We are covenantal

To say we are covenantal means we believe that the unifying principle in the Scriptures is the glory of God’s grace in the one covenant of grace that God made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and finally, and most importantly, in Jesus Christ. The covenant is God’s pledge to His people of a relationship of loving loyalty throughout eternity.

To speak of the unity of the covenants means that there is, and always has been, only one way to salvation in both the Old and New Testaments-that is, by God’s grace alone through faith alone. This covenantal understanding of the Bible is in distinction from any system of organizing the Scriptures that would attribute differing ways of salvation to a succession of historical biblical eras.

We seek to be centered on God’s glory

We believe that God’s glory consists of the overwhelming and overflowing beauty that stems from the sum total of all His attributes (e.g., His love, wrath, mercy, justice, etc.) working together in perfect harmony.

We believe that we exist to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. This belief is inevitably expressed through praise. We praise what we enjoy because our delight is incomplete until it is expressed in worship.

We are elder-led

This concept refers to our form of governance. We believe that the most clear biblical pattern is for churches to be governed by elders.

We affirm these distinctives as important in the sense of being profitable and health-producing for Christians to believe. We are further convinced that as one comes to appreciate these beliefs, he/she will grow to love and honor the Lord Jesus Christ more fully and understand more richly what it means to live by His grace.

Acceptance of all these distinctives, however, is not required for membership in Covenant Baptist Church. One can join and be a participating member of the church without holding to any but the evangelical distinctives mentioned in the first section of this article.  

It is our absolute and unwavering conviction that to be strong in truth without being gentle in manner is unbiblical. It is also our profound conviction that to be gentle in manner while not adhering to scriptural truth is also unbiblical. By God’s grace, we desire to be both as we press on in the Lord’s glorious design for Covenant Baptist Church to be used “to equip His people to delight in His glory and declare that glory to the nations!”