Statement of Faith: Pocket Edition

Statement of Faith: Pocket Edition presents the essential beliefs of the Christian faith in a clear, concise, and accessible form for everyday use in the life of the Church-supporting or supplying any individual or organizational doctrinal statement.

This Pocket Edition contains the same Articles of Faith as the full edition, carefully distilled for ease of reading, memorization, teaching, and confession. It does not offer personal opinions, new doctrines, or denominational positions. Instead, it sets forth what is absolutely necessary-the core doctrines without which the Christian faith would no longer be the Christian faith.

From the beginning, Christians knew what they believed before the New Testament was fully written. The faith was received, confessed, prayed, and lived before it was gathered into books. Scripture and confession have always belonged together, guarding and preserving the faith handed down from the apostles. This Statement follows that early pattern, speaking only where the Church has long spoken together.

Each Article is presented in three parts:

• Creedal Core - a brief, formal confession suitable for public affirmation

• Lay Explanation - a clear explanation in everyday language

• The Spirit's Witness - a short account of how the same belief has been confessed, prayed, and preserved across time

Together, these sections serve the Church's task of believing, confessing, teaching, praying, and handing on the faith unchanged.

This Pocket Edition is designed for catechesis, personal reading, group instruction, and ecclesial use. It is intentionally restrained, saying only what must be said to keep the faith intact. It does not attempt to resolve every theological question or settle later disagreements. Its purpose is not to argue, but to bear witness to what the Church has confessed together across time.

Offered under an open, ecumenical publishing ethos, Statement of Faith: Pocket Edition invites readers to recognize the Christian faith not as something invented, but as something received-and to join the long work of confessing and handing it on.