Oil City Branch Fellowship
Equipping Saints for Ministry
By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.
–Psalm 42:8
Statement of Beliefs
- WE believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
- WE believe in the triune Godhead as eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- WE believe in the Deity of Jesus Christ of the Bible, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, His attesting miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, in His ascension, and His present priestly ministry.
- WE believe that salvation comes only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
- WE believe in sanctification and holiness of heart, and the overcoming life as God’s design for the Church, which is the bride of Christ.
- WE believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as witnessed on the day of Pentecost and in the continuing ministry of the Holy Spirit as evidenced in the gifts, manifestations, and ministry of the Holy Spirit, and in His fruit in the life of the believer.
- WE believe in Christ’s imminent personal return in power and great glory, and in His present and everlasting dominion.
- WE believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection to eternal life, and they that are lost unto the resurrection to eternal punishment.
- WE believe in specific active serving of individuals in the local fellowship, who are called by God to the offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher, as essential to the spiritual life of the fellowship to grow into mature believers.
- WE believe that all believers, men and women alike, are called and are free to do “the work of the ministry” in the body of Christ, and have the God given right to exercise their respective gifts and callings, under the covering of the local elders, “to the building up of the body of Christ.”
Our Team
Please contact Pastor Chad for more information
814-657-0695 call or text
Want to learn more about what all the Branch does?
Ministry Philosophy
At Oil City Branch Fellowship we are devoted to relationships. This one word sums up the ministry model of our church. The primary focus, of course, is each person’s relationship with Jesus Christ. We believe that ministry to the Lord — cultivating a lifestyle of worship — is our first priority.
Secondly, we emphasize strong, healthy relationships with one another in the body of Christ. Ministry is more effective when it is rooted in quality relationships with one another. We cannot be in right relationship with Christ if we are not in right relationship with others.
And finally, we recognize the foundational role that relationships play in “making disciples of all nations.”We are associated with Branch Ministries, which connects a group of related churches in the Northwestern Pennsylvania area. These other churches are in Titusville, Youngsville, and Grove City.
Five Fold Ministry
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…” Ephesians 4:11,12
We recognize the importance of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in the body of Christ. No single office is adequate in and of itself for equipping the saints for the work of ministry.
Furthermore, we understand that all the saints are to be ministers, not exclusively ‘leadership’. Leadership’s role largely is in equipping the saints, so that everyone participates in the work of ministry, and consequently builds up the body of Christ.
Open Church Format
At Oil City Branch Fellowship, you don’t have to be a spectator. During Sunday morning services and home groups our desire is to provide the environment where people feel welcome and accepted, and also have an opportunity to grow in their giftings. We feel that an open church format is most scriptural and conducive to this end.
For this reason our services begin at 10:00am with a half hour time of fellowship before moving on to the time of worship, and then ministry in the word. We encourage families to worship together.
As Paul instructs us in 1 Corinthians 14:26, every member of the body of Christ can participate together for the edification of one another: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
Peter also encourages us to use our gifts for the benefit of the body and the glory of God: “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God… so that in all things God may be glorified… “ (1 Peter 4:10,11).
Our goal is to provide such an atmosphere where the members of Christ’s body can cultivate their gifts, so everyone can be edified and Christ can be glorified.
Oil City Branch Fellowship 