Statement of Faith

[Adopted July 18, 2021]

Deeply rooted in its evangelical Methodist-Holiness heritage, the South Seaville Camp Meeting Association today is a community of Christian believers from a variety of denominations and fellowships committed to growing in faith together, freely sharing the Good 

News of Salvation through Jesus Christ, and bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God through evangelistic outreach and witness to area churches and the surrounding communities.  Our camp welcomes, and is open to, all who seek a closer relationship with God.

Our faith is grounded in the authority of the Bible, which is the full and sufficient rule both of faith and of practice.  The Bible informs all that we believe and determines how we live.  In common with all orthodox believers, we embrace the core Christian doctrines expressed in the affirmation of faith commonly known as the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord:

  who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

  born of the Virgin Mary,

  suffered under Pontius Pilate,

  was crucified, dead, and buried;

  The third day he rose from the dead;

  He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

  from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

  the holy catholic church,

  the communion of saints,

  the forgiveness of sins,

  the resurrection of the body,

  and the life everlasting.  Amen.

In keeping with our theological heritage:

We believe:

God

In the one God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all things, infinite in love, perfect in judgments and unchanging in mercy.  God exists eternally in three persons:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;

Scripture

In the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both the Old and New Testaments, the only written Word of God, without error in all it affirms.  The Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice.  The Holy Spirit preserves God’s Word in the church today, and by it speaks God’s truth to peoples of every age;

Humankind

That human beings were created in the perfect moral image of God.  This image was marred in every part through the disobedience of our first parents, and fellowship with God was broken.  God, in his prevenient grace, restores moral sensibility to all humankind, and enables all to respond to His love and to accept His saving grace, if they will;

Jesus Christ

That Jesus Christ is God’s Son incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary.  He died for the sins of all, taking on Himself, on behalf of sinful persons, God’s judgment upon sin.  In His body, He rose from the grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father where He intercedes for us;

Holy Spirit

That the Holy Spirit is God present and active in the world.  The Holy Spirit was given to the church in His fullness at Pentecost.  By the Spirit, Christ lives in the church, the gospel in proclaimed, and the Kingdom of God is manifested in the world.

Salvation:  Justification and New Birth; Initial Sanctification

That God graciously justifies and regenerates all who trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation.  Christian believers become children of God, and begin to live in holiness through their faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit;

Salvation:  Entire Sanctification

That God calls all believers to entire sanctification in a moment of full surrender and faith subsequent to their new birth in Christ.  Through sanctifying grace, the Holy Spirit delivers them from all rebellion toward God, and makes possible wholehearted love for God and for others.  This grace does not make believers faultless, incapable of mistakes, nor prevent the possibility of falling into sin.  Believers must live daily by faith in the forgiveness and cleansing grace provided for them in Jesus Christ;

Assurance of Believers

That all believers can be assured they are children of God by the inward witness of God’s Spirit with their spirits, by faith in the gracious promises of God’s Word, and by the manifestation of the fruits of the Spirit in their lives.

Christian Duty to Witness

That Christians are called to live in daily witness to the grace which comes to us in Jesus Christ, to share the Gospel with every person according to the command of Christ, and to declare God’s insistence upon righteousness and holiness in every aspect of our living,  in our character and conduct,  and in all our relationships.

Return of Christ

In the personal return of Jesus Christ, in the bodily resurrection of all persons, in final judgment and in eternal reward and punishment.

God’s Victory

In God’s ultimate victory over Satan and all evil, and the establishment of God’s perfect Kingdom in a new heaven and a new earth.

As a camp meeting birthed of the nineteenth century Methodist-Holiness movement, we celebrate and proclaim the distinctive emphases of the American camp meeting tradition:

All need to be saved;
All may be saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ;
All may know they are saved on the authority of God’s Word, 
and by the witness of the Holy Spirit; and

All may be saved to the uttermost.
This is the faith we profess…

This is the faith we sing…

This is the faith we live…

This is the faith we share with others as the South Seaville Camp Meeting Association.

To God be the glory!  Amen.