Second Congregational Church of Douglas, Massachusetts

Organized in 1834 and located in the heart of downtown Douglas, Massachusetts, Second Congregational Church is a body of committed followers of Jesus Christ who desire to honor God by knowing and loving him, and who seek to benefit the Douglas community and the Blackstone Valley by modeling his love to others, encouraging others to follow Christ, and strengthening his disciples by teaching them his ways. Our church heritage at Second Congregational is evangelical, Reformed, and congregational.

We are evangelical, meaning literally we are “gospel people”. We believe that the Bible’s message of the good news (“gospel” or “evangel”) of Jesus Christ is God’s only means of reconciling the relationship between himself and sinful humanity. This gospel message is what the Holy Spirit uses to create, build, and nourish the church, and therefore we strive to maintain a Christ-centered, gospel-centered focus in all our worship, fellowship, and outreach.

We are Reformed, meaning that in our understanding of the Bible and Christian theology, we are in agreement with the 16th century Protestant reformers and the subsequent Reformed branch of the Christian church. Often known as the “doctrines of grace”, the Reformed understanding of the gospel teaches that salvation is entirely the gracious and sovereign gift of God. The five “solas” of the Protestant Reformation reflect this understanding: Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) is our final authority in all that it teaches; as to the gospel, Scripture teaches that we are justified before a holy God by his undeserved grace alone (sola gratia), received by us through faith alone (sola fide), as we trust in the finished substitutionary work of Christ alone (solus Christus), with the resulting credit and glory belonging to God alone (soli Deo gloria).

We are congregational, meaning that although we are part of the universal church of Jesus Christ that is made up of all who profess faith in him, we believe Scripture teaches that the universal church is governed at the local level. So, although we value and seek out wisdom and counsel and fellowship from other churches, and are members of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC), we believe that the congregation itself and its appointed leaders are directly responsible under Christ for the care and decisions of the local church body.