Our Mission, Beliefs, Services, History

THE BIBLE

We believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God.
It contains all that people in any age need to know for their salvation. We call the Bible God’s Word, believing that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God speaks to us through this book.
The Bible has two major sections that at first glance seem quite different from each other.
The Old Testament records God’s work through centuries of Israelite history until about 400 B.C.
The New Testament picks up with God’s work through the life of Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit in power, and the subsequent spread of the church over the first century A.D. You could also think of the Bible as a library of sixty-six unique books of various kinds by many authors in different contexts over thousands of years. But it is only one book: the whole of it forms one richly textured story of God’s loving purpose in relation to humans and the whole creation.

Four Chapters

Reformed believers summarize this biblical story in four major chapters:

Creation - In the beginning God created a world where everything was in perfect harmony. Relations between God and humans and the creation were good and whole.

Fall - Through pride, humans were enticed by Satan into rebelling against God. Their disobedient act opened the door for the “sin virus” to enter the world. This virus contaminates everything: no person, no creature, no institution, no relationship or individual action is free from the totality of this contamination. The results of sin are evident in such things as greed, violence, and oppression as well as pollution, sickness, death, and weeds. The most devastating effect of sin is alienation from God. Still, sin cannot obliterate the “image of God” in us that longs for God and for wholeness.

Redemption - But God did not allow sin have the last word in this story. Because of his great love for humans and for the whole creation, God set out to redeem the world from its sinful condition. God called Abraham and Sarah and their descendants, the people of Israel, to be his partners in blessing the whole world. Finally, he sent his only Son, Jesus the Messiah, to live a fully human life and then die, thus paying the price for humanity’s sinful actions. But death could not defeat Jesus. God raised him from the dead to show that he had conquered sin and death. Now God’s kingdom is growing and spreading in this world, and Christians are part of that great work.

New Creation - One day, Jesus is coming back again to extend God’s reign on earth completely.
He will do away with any traces of sin and its effects. There will be no more sickness, no more suffering, no more alienation from God, no more death. Evil will be eradicated. God himself will dwell with humans and all creation will be fully restored. Praise God!

CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS

Throughout history the Christian church has developed creeds, which are brief statements of what the Bible teaches about God. The creeds we hold to are the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed and Athanasian Creed.
Along with these beautiful creeds, our church also holds to more detailed collections of teachings called confessions. These confessions arose in the 1500’s since the church at the time was straying away from the Bible. Pastor John Calvin is one of the many church leaders who worked hard at bringing the Christian church back to its Biblical roots. Three valuable confessions that were devised are called The Belgic Confession, The Heidelberg Catechism, and The Canons of Dort. These documents faithfully summarize the Bible’s teachings.

HOW DO I BECOME A CHRISTIAN?

We believe that someone becomes a Christian (Christ-follower) when one responds in faith to the teachings of the Bible by: • Accepting the free gift of salvation offered by Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31) • Being sorry for your sins and turning away from them (Romans 6) • Committing yourself to follow Jesus and serve Him as Lord (Mark 8:34-38)

Church Services

We celebrate Jesus' life, death and resurrection by gathering together for worship Sunday mornings at 9:30am. Our service offers nursery services for children ages 0-3 and Sunday School for 3-5 year old's during the service. Sunday School for youth grades 1-12 occurs after the service (during the school year). At 7:00pm during the school year only, we gather for an informal Bible Study to take a closer look at some Bible book or topic. Please check the special services and meetings listings to see if there are any special services planned that may preempt an evening service in the sanctuary. Our services are on DVD and are taped on audio cassette for those members who are unable to attend regular church services. These tapes are kept in the Church Library and may be borrowed. Please contact

Church History

The Williamsburg congregation was organized in 1952 and the first elders were Ralph deJong, J. Geurkink Sr., and John Bosman, the first deacons of the congregation were G.J. Luimes and F.W. Harbers.

On June 27th - 29th, 1977 the 25th anniversary of the church was celebrated. The congregation continued to grow and in 1989 a group of about 55 families decided to start a daughter congregation in the Brinston area where a large concentration of members lived. This new congregation is known as the Community Christian Reformed Church of Dixon's Corners. During the night of February 28th - March 1st 1991, fire of an unknown origin totally destroyed our newly renovated church building.

During the planning and building of our new church building the Williamsburg Lutheran Church graciously shared their building with us so that we could still hold our regular Sunday services in the village of Williamsburg. The year 1992 was quite a year for the Williamsburg congregation as on February 29th we held a dedication service for our beautiful new church facility. Then, on the weekend of June 5th - 7th we celebrated the 40th Anniversary of our church with a full slate of events highlighted on Sunday with two special worship services that were attended by several of our former pastors.

Most recently, on June 2-3, 2012, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of our church, again with great festivities and a celebratory worship service. God has been faithful to Williamsburg CRC over these years and we hope to continue to be a beacon of light in our community until Jesus returns.

Ministers who served our congregation.