About Canaan Trail Baptist Church

At Canaan Trail Baptist Church (CTBC), you’ll find a friendly group committed to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe in showing faith in action through our daily walk and as we serve our community.

Welcome to CTBC!

You Belong Here

Most of our members come from Capitan, Nogal, Alto, and Ruidoso. It can be a little bit of a drive for some, but we believe that whatever distance you have to travel to get here, you’ll be well compensated by the difference you find at CTBC. We welcome all!

Our History

Canaan Trail Baptist Church was formerly known as Alto Baptist Church. The church called Roland Burnett and his wife, Alice, to pastor the church in August of 2002. Later the same year, the congregation purchased the 12-acre property where the church presently sits. The main building was dedicated on March 14, 2003.

The present-day offices, classrooms, fellowship center, and kitchen were in the main building. Two years later, the present sanctuary and basement were added. Later, the church was renamed Canaan Trail Baptist church. Pastor Bill is the fourth pastor of the church.

We Believe

For the entire message of our beliefs, please see The Baptist Faith and Message. The following are a few of our core beliefs:

  • The Holy Bible is a perfect treasure of divine instruction, written by men divinely inspired, and is God’s revelation of Himself to man.
  • There is one and only one living and true God. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
  • Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. Every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
  • Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer.
  • Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners.
  • A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
  • Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
  • The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day.
  • Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
  • The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.
  • God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. The righteous, in their resurrected and glorified bodies, will receive their reward and dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
  • It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.
  • Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
  • God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him.
  • Christ’s people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God.
  • All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and human society.
  • It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness.
  • God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men that are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate.
  • God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It comprises persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
    • Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.
    • The husband and wife are of equal worth before God.
    • Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.