Our mission and vision 

Our mission: To worship and glorify God.  We accomplish our mission by worshiping God and through acts of love and service to others so that they will become disciples of Jesus Christ.

Our vision: We are a thriving, inter-generational faith community.  Through passionate worship and spiritual formation, we grow in Christ-likeness, serve as good stewards of God's resources, reach out to care for others, and share the Good News in our community and around the world. 

What's important to us? 

Like countless communities of faith before us, Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church has set down core values that help define what we believe and describe who we are as a people of God.

We confess, along with our brothers and sisters in Christ from the earliest days of the church, that “Jesus is Lord.”  We hold that worship is our whole purpose for being and the fuel for the critical commissioning tasks of evangelism and discipleship that Jesus has given us.

Here are some of the core beliefs that unite us at FOPC:

• The majesty and sovereignty of God the Father.
• The Lordship and centrality of the Son, Jesus Christ.
• The witness and work of the Holy Spirit.
• The Bible is the word of God, the only rule of faith and practice.
• The purpose of our lives is worship, “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
• The need for personal conversion.
• The priority of evangelism and discipleship.
• The importance of the Christian community.
• The call to be salt and light in our community and world.

These distinctives of evangelical Christianity are not meant to be an exhaustive listing, but rather a helpful guide to some of the things that bind us together at Fair Oaks.  We believe that they work together with and support our mission.

Essential tenets 

At Fair Oaks, we have enthusiastically affirmed ten basic, essential tenets of the Reformed faith to which we steadfastly hold. The tenets were constructed by the New Wineskins Association of Churches (to which we belong) and our Session unanimously endorsed them in 2005.  The essential tenets are based first on Scripture and also upon the classic Confessions of the Reformed church, including the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Download our Essential Tenets by clicking the PDF Icon. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the file.

What does it mean to be Presbyterian? 

What does it mean to be Presbyterian?  And what does being Presbyterian have to do with Christian beliefs or the way a church is operated?  At Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, we recently created an informational booklet that shares some of the biblical and orthodox beliefs we embrace.  Topics include: “What we believe about the Bible,” “What we believe about being a Christian,” and “What we believe about denominations.”  If you’d like to read the booklet, click the link below:

Download our "What does it mean to be Presbyterian?" by clicking the PDF Icon. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the file.

About our denomination   

Fair Oaks is a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). The name describes the denomination well: The EPC is both evangelical and Presbyterian-- evangelical in its zeal for the Gospel, as well as, evangelism, missions and living obediently as followers of Jesus; at the same time, the denomination is rooted deeply in the Protestant Reformation and especially the theological and pastoral work of John Calvin. The EPC embraces the Westminster Confession of Faith as its doctrinal standard and the rule of spiritually mature elders linked together regionally as the best way to guide local congregations.

When the EPC started in 1981, members determined that on the basic essentials of the Christian faith, they would not disagree, but on anything that was not essential, such as the issue of ordaining women as officers or practicing charismatic gifts, we would give each other liberty. Above all, the young denomination committed itself to loving each other and not engaging in quarrels and strife. The result is that when members get together in our regional and national meetings, most of the time is spent in worship and fellowship.

The EPC consists of just over 200 churches and about 85,000 members. It has a world missions program with a priority on sending missionaries to unreached people groups. The denomination is eager to plant churches across the United States and especially in urban communities and college towns. The EPC's desire is that each of its member congregations be an outpost of the Kingdom with every member viewing himself or herself as a missionary.

If you'd like to learn more about the EPC, click here to visit their website: Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Within the EPC, we are a part of the New Wineskins Presbytery, a non-geographic, transitional Presbytery made up of churches being called out of the PCUSA and into partnership with a denomination that seeks theological integrity, missional faithfulness, and structural effectiveness. As part of the Wineskins Presbytery, we come under the umbrella of the EPC, but are particularly accountable to the Wineskins Constitution (except in matters of church discipline and the General Assembly). Click here if you'd like to learn more about the Wineskins: New Wineskins Association of Churches.

 If you’d like to learn more about our beliefs, please let us know. We’ll be glad to put you in contact with someone who’d be delighted to talk with you further.