FOR THE COMMON GOOD

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Frequently Asked Questions


1. Are you connected with other Chapel churches in the Akron area? 

Yes and No. We have no formal governing or financial connections. Each church in The Chapel Consortium has its own distinct tone and emphasis. But we have similar doctrine, and associate for fellowship and sharing of resources. 

2. Do you take the Bible literally? 

Where the Bible is written historically, we take it as historically true. But the Bible is a mix of genres including law, poetry, history, prophecy, letters, allegories, parables and sermons. We interpret each section in its context. While the literal meaning is always important, it would be dumb to interpret figurative or poetic language literally. 

3. Do you baptize?

Yes, we baptize by immersion. We borrow the pond of one our members which limits us to mostly summer months. If you’ve been baptized in another church, we don’t require you to be re-baptized unless, for some reason, you want to. We don’t baptize babies, but we do have a simple dedication ceremony. We think baptism works best when the person understands what they’re choosing. 

4. Do you have altar calls or invitations at the end of a service? 

Not usually. Sunday services are primarily for the building up of people who have already chosen Christ.  But we want to be understandable to people at various stages of their spiritual journies.  Every once in a while you’ll be challenged to make some kind of change or commitment in that journey.  

5. Why do you point at the walls when you preach as if there’s something up there? 

That’s what we call Four Corners. Just a little way to keep track of 4000 years of history. See, the Bible people didn’t all live in the same period wearing bathrobes and towels on their heads. Abraham lived around 2000BC so he’s in the first corner. King David was 1000 years later at 1000BC. Then you have Christ in the middle at roughly 0. The Crusades occurred about 1000AD and then that brings up back to today at 2000AD. Each wall of the room represents 1000 years. It’s just a way to see the story as one big story and to see ourselves in the story. We place everything where it fits on the wall.