Affiliation: Blacksburg First Church of God is affiliated with the Church of God Reformation Movement, whose General Assembly meets annually in Anderson, Indiana. Some highlights of our beliefs are described below. Some summary information is provided by a Wikipedia article. To learn more about the beliefs and history of the Church of God click on the flames logo on the right.
Beliefs:
- The unity of all believers is a historic emphasis of the Church of God. All who trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are members of His Church. Those who choose to worship with us regularly comprise our local congregation. (We have no formal membership list.)
- We look to Scripture as the inspired word of God. It is the one rule of faith and practice for the believer. We do not rely on any attempts to summarize or systematize God's Word into a creed, catechism or formal confession. We take Scripture itself (and Scripture alone) as our creed.
- We believe that by the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit the believers, collectively and individually, can practice holy, righteous living. While we do not claim to achieve this perfectly or completely, it is an active goal of our lives as Christians.
- We practice believer's baptism. This means that we baptize those who have put their faith in Christ. Through the ordinance of baptism the believer gives witness to the saving work of Christ in his/her life and membership in His Church.
- We share the Lord's Supper (communion) together once a month, and on special occasions express our dedication to serving each other through the ordinance of foot washing.
- We practice what is known as congregational polity, which means that the congregation itself answers directly to God, and is responsible for governing itself, including all legal, property and personnel issues, including calling its own pastoral staff. While we affiliate with the Church of God in Virginia and the Church of God Reformation Movement in general, and turn to them for guidance with ministries from time to time, the affiliation does not mean they have authority to appoint our pastoral staff or determine our curriculum or policies.
Photo Albums:
- Veterans - this is an album of photos of those from our congregation who haved served in the armed forces (taken from the 2008 Veteran's Day presentation).
- Memorial - this album is of members who have served this congregation in that past (taken from the 2009 Memorial Day presentation).
Our Pastor: David Ansley has been married to Carolyn for over 15 years. Together they have four children: Jonathan, Michael, Steven and Clara. Carolyn works diligently in the congregation as leader of Kid’s Place, Sunday school teacher, a leader in the Women of the Church of God group, and in music ministry. You might see Carolyn during the week as a teller at National Bank of Blacksburg downtown. David grew up in western Ohio while Carolyn grew up in Roanoke, VA. They met in Fairfax, VA, moved to Indiana for several years and then moved to Blacksburg in June 2007. Both David and Carolyn are graduates of Anderson – Carolyn from Anderson College and David from Anderson University in 2005 with a Master of Divinity. David is a graduate of Virginia Tech (MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering, 1991) so this is a return to Blacksburg for him. David worked in human resources for several years before getting his call to ministry. He has served previously as a Music Minister at a congregation in Indianapolis, and as the Interim Pastor at Grandview Church of the Brethren in Pendleton, IN and at Anderson Church of the Brethren in Anderson, IN. He has now been the pastor at the First Church of God for the past year and a half. You can reach David directly at bfcogpastor@hotmail.com.