Affiliations

Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (4C's)

Bethlehem Christian Church is a member of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference. We have a sister church, Mt. Zion Christian Church, in Mebane, North Carolina, that is also a 4C's congregation. Together with two Virginia churches, Cypress Chapel Congregational Christian in Suffolk and Bethlehem Christian Church in Disputanta, we are members of the Mid-Atlantic Regional 4C's Fellowship, which meets in the spring and fall at alternate locations.

The 4C's was established to provide a continuing fellowship for evangelical churches and ministers on the national level. It celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1998 and has enjoyed a stable and healthy growth over the years in all areas.

A truly congregational church believes that its members must have found personal salvation through Jesus Christ, that the Holy Scriptures are authoritative, that Jesus Christ is Lord, that local churches are autonomous, and that all Christians are united in universal fellowship.

Congregationalists have a rich heritage that dates back as early as 1567 in London. By 1620 they had fled Holland and settled in the New World in Plymouth. Before landing they drew up the famous Mayflower Compact, a constitution for the government. Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, and R. A. Torrey, were famous Congregationalists.

Congregationalists were responsible for the first town meeting, the first college (Harvard in 1636) and some sixty more colleges, the first public school, the first foreign missionary society (established in 1810), the American Tract Society, the American Educational Society, the first Home Mission Society, the first theological seminary, the first religious newspaper in this country, and the first young people's society (Christian Endeavor).

National Association of Evangelicals

Because of our membership in the 4C's, Bethlehem Christian Church is also a member of the National Association of Evangelicals, a group of conservative denominations which includes the 4C's.