We affirm core Christian doctrines such as the Trinity,( Father, Son and Holy Spirit ) both in personal experience and in the community of believers; salvation by grace through faith in Christ as Savior; the universal Church; the reign of God as both a present and future reality; the authority of Scripture in matters of faith; and the essential oneness of the Church in Jesus Christ. These are beliefs which we share with other denominations. We recognize the right of Christians to differ in doctrine, requiring only the essential belief that God is our Creator, that Jesus the Christ is our Lord and Savior and that the Holy Spirit is ever present with us.
WHY DO WE LIGHT THE CANDLES DURING WORSHIP SERVICE?
With rare exception, candles are always a part of Christian worship services. The candles generally placed on or alongside the altar. Just as the worship service is starting the candles are lit by a helper called an acolyte. Acolyte is a Greek word taken from the word akolouthos, meaning follower. Very probably lights were first used by Christians to dispel the darkness when they were worshiping in the underground graveyard tombs of the catacombs or in the early morning darkness to avoid detection by persecutors. It wasn’t long however, before the early theologians recognized the beautiful symbolism of the use of the lights. Light has many symbolical qualities that can be applied to God, and therefore can easily serve as a symbol for Him. It is pure, penetrates darkness, moves with astonishing speed, nourishes life, and illumines everything it touches. It symbolically reminds us of the One who is all-pure, all-powerful, and the source of all Grace and enlightenment. Jesus himself stated; “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.(John8:12). So light represents Jesus who came to enlighten “those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.” (Luke 1:79). And as the candle consumes itself in giving light and service to mankind it gives us the symbol of sacrificial love. “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1). Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and salvation-whom shall I fear?” In the 119th Psalm we read, “God’s Word is a lamp to the feet and a light to our path.” In 2 Samuel we read, “The Lord is a lamp, turning darkness into light.”
So you see the light that the acolytes bring into worship and place on the altar is the symbolical light of Christ. After the service is over they take the light out into the world, symbolically, as we should be doing. It is a part of our worship service.