Here at First Church of God, we are part of the Church of God denomination from Anderson, Indiana. This movement was founded in the early 1880's, and has since grown into a large collection of churches all across the world. We are a people committed to faithfully studying the Word of God, and fulfilling the mission to make disciples of all nations. While we have no official creed, we do have core beliefs that inform and motivate everything we do. These include: 

That Jesus Christ is Lord. Acts 2:36 (NIV) states “therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” The singular and exclusive divinity of Jesus is central to our beliefs. We believe He is the only mediator between God and mankind. 

The Power of The Holy Spirit. We believe in the transformative and empowering nature of the Holy Spirit to equip and possess. The Spirit convicts us of sin, sanctifies us, and seals us apart for eternity. He is the witness of our redemption, and the Comforter promised to us by Jesus. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV) 

Unity. We believe that we in the church are the body of Christ, and that we are uniquely called for unity as a people redeemed by the blood and possessed by the Spirit. 

Love as the Great Commandments. We are told in Scripture that the sum of the law and the prophets is these two commandments: to love God with your entire self, and to love your neighbor as yourself. We see this in Luke 10, where Jesus responds to a teacher of the law who has asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. When the teacher says the Great Commandments, we read: "“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

The Authority of Scripture. We believe that both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible were divinely inspired, preserved across time and space, and is the ultimate source of knowledge to inform and define us.

The Great Commission. Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV) says "then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” We believe this direction is given to each of us. 

The Kingdom of God. We believe the kingdom of God is not of this world and that as His children, we are to preach the good news of the kingdom, and claim and steward spiritual riches.

The Trinity. We believe that God expresses himself in 3 persons, each with a unique role. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Role of Women in Ministry. We believe that the distribution of gifts from the Holy Spirit if for all people, not determined by gender. We celebrate the ministry leadership of outstanding women clergy. 

We are dedicated to keeping our church family safe and healthy during these difficult times. As a precaution, we have currently moved our services online. Our Sunday services are livestreamed at the usual time of 11 am, so those unable to meet in person are able to join us virtually! A collection of past recorded sermons can also be found on our Facebook page, so that previous messages can be revisited at any time. 

All are welcome to join a ministry or group at First Church of God! We do not have formal church memberships, since salvation through Jesus Christ alone qualifies you as a member of His church. If you are interested in joining a specific group or ministry, send us a message today! Be sure to mark "Getting Involved in a Ministry" as what you would like more information about. Once we get your message, we will reach back out to you to further discuss your inquiry as soon as we can.  

Yes! We would love to pray for you. When you fill out the contact form on the "Contact Us" page or the "Get In Touch" button, you will have to option to say whether or not you would like to request prayer. You also have the option to keep your request private, so that only Pastor Aaron sees it, or public, so that the whole church may come together in prayer. 

If you would like to pay tithes or make a monetary donation to our church, we have a convenient way to do so online! We are currently processing online transactions through Cash App. Cash App is free to download, and allows you to pay without connecting a bank account. We thank you for you generosity! 

To keep up to date with upcoming church events, check back to the church calendar here on our website regularly! We update this calendar whenever we have a new event. For more immediate notifications and announcements, follow our social media! Our church Facebook page is where we post photos, videos, and important information. It is also a place for online community among our congregation! Click here to visit our Facebook page.  

We would love to hear from you! We are available for a phone call at (757) 247-6731. If you would prefer to send us a direct message, our church email is firstchurchnewportnews@gmail.com. You can also send us a secure message through the convenient contact forms here on our website! Just enter your information into the form found on the "Contact Us" page or the "Get in Touch" button. Once we receive your message, we will get back in touch with you as soon as we can!