Danville Friends Church Believes:

1. There is one holy, almighty, all-knowing, and everlasting God who is in three parts: God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. (Isaiah 43:10, 1 Peter 1:15, Revelation 19:6, 1 John 3:20, Psalm 90:2, John 10:30, Acts 5:3-4)

2. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born of a virgin, who suffered and died on a cross, and rose again the third day. (Matthew 3:16-17, Luke 1:26-35, Philippians 2:5-8, John 2:18-22)

3. The Bible is the “inspired” or “God-breathed” Word of God and in its original manuscripts is without error. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, John 17:17, Hebrews 4:12)

4. Humans are made in God’s image but have all sinned. (Genesis 1:26-27, Romans 3:23)

5. Sin separates us from God, and it is only through Jesus Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice and belief in Jesus that humans can be saved. This salvation is through grace alone, there is nothing man or woman can do on their own to attain salvation. (Isaiah 59:2, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 10:9-10, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9)

6. Marriage, as outlined in Scripture, is a covenant between one man and one woman. Any sexual or marital relationships that occur outside of these parameters are not in alignment with Scripture. (Genesis 1:26-27, Matthew 19:4-6, 1 Corinthians 6:18, 7:2-5, Hebrews 13:4)

7. God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Genesis 1:26-27, Psalm 139:13-14, Jeremiah 1:5)

At Danville Friends Church, these truths are foundational to our identity as Quakers. While this is the Scriptural bedrock on which we stand, we also stand on the teaching that Jesus commands us to love everyone. We have made that our missional goal as a church. Our goal is to love people no matter their background or their past. This is something that we will continue to do as a church and as Quakers. Our hope is that you will come and check us out and see if we are living up to that standard.

What are Friends (Quakers) and What does that look like at Danville Friends Church:

For many of us, both inside and outside the church, we have come to look at the denominational labels as a sign to generalize what the people of that church believe. We do this for Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and even Friends (Quakers). But we have also seen different churches and people, throughout the years, bear the same label while standing on different ground philosophically and theologically within our own community.

This has also been true of the Friends church who are more commonly known as Quakers. Quakers have had their own share of splits over theological differences in the far past and the not so far past. The term Quaker no longer has a shared meaning and understanding. It is because of this fact that many Quaker churches around the country, and especially in Indiana, have had to make firm decisions on their doctrine. Some Quakers have chosen to take a more worldly view of Scripture and the nature of Jesus Christ while others have taken a more traditional view of these topics.

Danville Friends Church has also had to determine where we stand as a church and as individuals. This began over 10 years ago. At that time, Danville Friends came together and decided that there were key principles in Scripture that were foundational to our understanding of what it means to be a Christian and a Quaker.