VISION
“Building a healthy church in
through Worship, Ministry, Evangelism, Baptism, and Discipleship.”
Mission
“Make disciples, who in turn make disciples.”
motto
“To Know and to Do the Will of God.”
HISTORY OF SHILOH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
Twelve people organized Shiloh Baptist Church on March 11, 1951. Through praying, fasting, having faith in God and hard work, Shiloh eventually moved to a storefront location at 95 Church Street in Middletown, CT. On April 14, 1951 the first pastor, Rev. Harry W. Williams was installed. On November 14, 1954, Shiloh purchased and moved to a building at 112 East Main Street, Middletown, CT. Rev. Lorenzo L. Woods was called to be the pastor of Shiloh, and was ordained to the ministry on August 13, 1957 by a council of the Connecticut Baptist Missionary Convention. Under Rev. Woods’ leadership, the church moved to the corner of Liberty and High Street on November 16, 1958. In January of 1972, tragedy struck and the Liberty and High Street location was totally destroyed by fire.
The new church, at 346 Butternut Street was completed within two years. On March 16, 1975, the congregation moved into its present location at 346 Butternut Street, Middletown, CT. To mark our thirty-year anniversary, Shiloh held a cornerstone ceremony, in memory of Mother Walker, on March 15,1981. On Saturday, May 25, 1991, Rev. Lorenzo L. Woods died after a long illness. A few years prior to his death, being led by God, Rev. Woods invited Bishop W. Vance Cotten, Sr., of New Haven to serve as his assistant. Bishop W. Vance Cotten served as Rev. Woods’ assistant for two and a half years, and served as interim pastor for five months and was officially installed on the first Saturday in September of 1991.
Under Bishop Cotten’s leadership as Pastor, many ministries, programs, services were established. To mention a few, a food pantry that serves over 160 families twice a month; a Credit Union, Now Faith Financial Cooperative; a thriving Children’s Church; a Summer Youth Program for low to moderate income families, Camp Shiloh; a 41 unit elderly housing complex, Shiloh Manor, which was built and completed in May 1996; Shiloh is also bless to have three 50l-c3 status. On November 15, 2009, our First Lady, Rev. Kim L. Cotten was installed as our Co-Pastor to serve along side of our Pastor.
On May 2018, Christian Leadership Bible College was moved from New Haven, CT to Middletown, CT and housed at the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. Shiloh continues to be blessed and God’s vision for the church continues to be fulfilled.
Our Beliefs
The Inspiration of Scripture
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God; God-breathed, infallible, and inerrant in the original manuscripts; having been written by human authors carried along by the Holy Spirit, that it has God for its author and salvation for its end, and that it is the supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
The One True God
We believe there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite Spirit, the Maker and supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
Exodus 20:2, 3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:11
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the new birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer. We believe that the sign/revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit have fulfilled their purpose and are not applicable to the work of the Holy Spirit today.
John 14:16, 17; Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Genesis 1:1–3; John 16:8–11; Acts 5:30–32; John 3:5, 6; Ephesians 1:13, 14; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 11:16
Creation
We believe the Biblical account of the creation of the physical universe, angels, and humanity; that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that Adam and Eve were created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all people are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race. In light of God’s creative design, we believe that the Bible teaches that marriage is the joining of one man and one woman and that sexual intimacy is to be expressed only within the bonds of a Biblically defined marriage. Any other form of marriage or sexual intimacy is immoral and a perversion of God’s gracious will.
Genesis 1; 2; Colossians 1:16, 17; John 1:3; Genesis 2:18, 24, 25; Matthew 19:4–6; Romans 1:24–29; 7:2; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; 7:1–5; Ephesians 5:22–33; Hebrews 13:4
The Fall of Mankind
We believe that mankind was created in innocence (in the image and likeness of God) under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression, Adam fell from his sinless and happy state, and all human beings sinned in him, in consequence of which all human beings are totally depraved, are partakers of Adam’s fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and by conduct, and therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse.
Genesis 3:1–6; Romans 1:18, 32; 3:10–19; 5:12, 19
The Virgin Birth
We believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other person was ever born or can be born of a woman, and that He is both the Son of God and God, the Son.
Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:14
Salvation
We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who, by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that by the shedding of His blood in His death He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin; that His sacrifice consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that having risen from the dead He is now enthroned in Heaven, and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Savior. We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. Repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit and is an integral part of saving faith.
Jonah 2:9; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24, 25; John 3:16; Matthew 18:11; Philippians 2:7, 8; Hebrews 2:14–17; Isaiah 53:4–7; 1 John 4:10; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24
Resurrection and Priesthood of Christ
We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ and in His ascension into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our high priest interceding for us.
Matthew 28:6, 7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; 1 Corinthians 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2–6, 51; Acts 1:9–11; Revelation 3:21; Hebrews 8:6; 12:2; 7:25; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 2:17; 5:9, 10
Grace and the New Birth
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith, and newness of life.
John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 5:1; Acts 16:20–33; 2 Peter 1:4; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1, 5; Colossians 2:13; John 3:8
Justification
We believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s shed blood.
Romans 3:24; 4:5; 5:1, 9; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 3:9
Sanctification
We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner: first, an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to the life; third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord’s return.
Hebrews 10:10–14; 3:1; John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 5:25–27; 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 4; 5:23, 24; 1 John 3:2; Jude 24, 25; Revelation 22:11
The Church
We believe that a local church is an organized congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights, and privilege invested in them by His Word; that its officers are pastors and deacons, godly men whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all people as we have the opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only Superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; that on all matters of membership, of polity, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.
1 Corinthians 11:2; Acts 20:17–28; 1 Timothy 2:12; 3:1–13; Titus 1:5–9; Acts 2:41, 42
We believe in the unity of all New Testament believers in the Church which is the Body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12, 13; Ephesians 1:22, 23; 3:1-6; 4:11; 5:23; Colossians 1:18; Acts 15:13-18
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
We believe that Christian baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, through Whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that baptism is to be performed under the authority of the local church; and that it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination. We believe that the Biblical order of the ordinances is baptism first and then the Lord’s Supper and that participants in the Lord’s Supper should be immersed believers.
Acts 8:36, 38, 39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3–5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 11:23–28; Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 2:41, 42