First Alliance Church has been ministering to Erie, Pennsylvania as part of the C&MA for the last 125+ years.

The US Alliance is part of a Christ-centered global movement more than 6 million strong. Our Acts 1:8 family—inspired by Jesus’ love and empowered by His Spirit—is passionate to bring the good news about Him to our neighborhoods and world.

OUR VISION

To build, equip, and mobilize followers of Jesus so that all nations may know him, to God’s glory.

BUILD:

We function with the biblical understanding that God intends for all believers to grow in spiritual maturity, and that God uses our church in the growth process (1 Corinthians 3:1–11).

True spiritual growth only happens through the power of the Holy Spirit as people actively engage with the life-changing Word of God and actively engage with God in prayer. It is our desire for believers to move toward age-appropriate biblical literacy through expository preaching and teaching. We encourage relationships which are marked by mature believers coming alongside and discipling new believers. 

THE FRUIT OF BUILDING IS CHRISTLIKENESS. 

This is evidenced when people see the world through a gospel lens and daily live out the gospel in real and tangible ways. Life decisions will be “gospel-shaped” and their entire lives will be an act of worship. 

EQUIP:

We function with the biblical understanding that our church is responsible for providing the tools, training, and resources necessary to execute gospel mission and ministry (Ephesians 4:11–12).

God has established certain roles in the church to prepare all believers for ministry. It is our desire for believers to identify their God-given spiritual gifts and be given opportunities to foster them. We encourage relationships which are marked by current ministry leaders coming alongside and developing new leaders.  

THE FRUIT OF EQUIPPING IS SERVANTHOOD. 

This is evidenced when people move from being merely consumers to active participants. When they take what they have learned and put it into practice. 

MOBILIZE:

We function with the biblical understanding that God calls all believers to mission, as commanded through the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20).

It is our responsibility as a church to not only equip believers, but to prayerfully develop strategies and provide opportunities for them to go and do ministry in their own contexts and beyond! It is our desire to be a “sending” church where our members pursue intentional, sacrificial, and long-term relationships with unbelievers, both locally and globally, to love them like Christ and proclaim the gospel. 

THE FRUIT OF MOBILIZATION IS WINNING SOULS.

This is evidenced when believers go beyond the comforts of life to be the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus—and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, unbelievers become committed followers of Jesus Christ. 

OUR BELIEFS

There is one God, who is infinitely perfect, existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

  • Jesus Christ is true God and true man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He died upon the cross, the Just for the unjust, as a substitutionary sacrifice, and all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood. He arose from the dead according to the Scriptures. He is now at the right hand of the Majesty on high as our great High Priest. He will come again to establish His Kingdom of righteousness and peace.

  • The Holy Spirit is divine Person, sent to indwell, guide, tach, empower the believer, and convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement.

  • The Old and New Testaments, inerrant as originally given, were verbally inspired by God and are a complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men. They constitute the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice.

  • Man was originally created in the image and likeness of God: he fell through disobedience incurring, thereby, both physical and spiritual death. All men are born with a sinful nature, are separated from the life of God, and can be saved only through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The prospect of the impenitent and unbelieving is existence forever in conscious torment; and that of the believer, in everlasting joy and bliss.

  • Salvation has been provided through Jesus Christ for all; and those who repent and believe in Him are born again of the Holy Spirit, receive the gift of eternal life, and become the children of God.

  • It is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified wholly, being separated from sin and the world and fully dedicated to the will of God, thereby receiving power for holy living and effective service. This is both a crisis and a progressive experience wrought in the life of the believer subsequent to conversion.

  • Provision is made in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ for the healing of the mortal body. Prayer for the sick and anointing with oil are taught in the Scriptures and are privileges for the Church in this present age.

  • The Church consists of all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, are redeemed through His blood, and are born again of the Holy Spirit. Christ is the Head of the Body, the Church, which has been commissioned by Him to go into all the world as a witness, preaching the gospel to all nations. The local church is a Body of believers in Christ who are joined together for the worship fo God, for edification through the Word of God, for prayer, fellowship, the proclamation of the gospel and observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

  • There shall be a bodily resurrection of the just and of the unjust; for the former, a resurrection unto life; for the latter, a resurrection unto judgement.

  • The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent and will be personal, visible, and premillennial. This is the believer’s blessed hope and is a vital truth which is an incentive to holy living and faithful service.

What The Alliance believes about God, how He relates to us, and how we relate to Him is foundational in its teachings. The Alliance wholeheartedly serves God and the people of His world, based soundly on the Bible. We live and die by these words and believe they bring the only life worth living—one wholly committed to the King Jesus.

You can read more at The Alliance website here.