The short answer is that we are first Christians, second Evangelicals, and third Missional. 

First, we are Christians. This distinguishes us from other world religions and cults. Therefore, we adhere to the inerrant word of God as our basis for ministry and find creeds such as the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed helpful as guides in defining our doctrine. 

Second, we are Evangelicals and we are Southern Baptists in agreement with the doctrinal statement of the National Association of Evangelicals and the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. We believe in and affirm the priesthood of all believers. We believe salvation is by grace through faith as a gift of God so that no one can boast (Eph. 2). We affirm that all people are born separated from God and are in need of a Savior to save them from their sins and put them in right relationship with God. We believe that God’s acts of salvation are performed for his glory and not according to any good acts of the recipient. We affirm the primacy of Scripture and believe that by Scripture alone can someone know the special revelation of God necessary to be saved. We believe that the church exists as an agent of the Kingdom of God for his glory and not for the glory of man. 

Third, we are Missional. We believe that our local church must be faithful to the content of unchanging Biblical doctrine (Jude 3). We believe that our local church must be faithful to the continually changing context of the culture in which we minister (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). We believe that our mission is to bring people into the church so that they can be trained to go out into their culture as effective missionaries.