What we believe

As a community of God’s people, we seek to become a family in which everyone has a place.

We want to see people coming to know Jesus, enjoying the grace of God and freely receiving his love, confident that salvation is a gift that cannot be earned. We are committed to sharing the Good News of Jesus in our locality and wherever God leads us. We believe we need to be anointed and filled with the Holy Spirit to be effective as Christians. We encourage believers to live their lives in the power of the Holy Spirit, learning to use their gifts to build up the whole “body of Christ”, which is the Church and to reach out to our local communities.

 Our Mission

God wants to continue to build us into a loving family, anointed and filled with the Holy Spirit, reaching out in Jesus’ name to the surrounding community and to all nations.

Our Values

G

Generosity

To reflect the self-giving love of God.

R

Radical Living

Learning to live like Jesus

A

Acceptance

To welcome and value all who come among us.

C

Community Focused

To seek to make a positive and unique contribution to our community.

E

Engaging in Prayer and Worship

To put God first and recognise that without Him we can do nothing.

In other words, GRACE is at the heart of our life together.

All our values are biblically based. We are committed to the Bible as the revealed Word of God.
It is the basis for everything that we teach and the guidance for us individually and in our life together.

 

Statement of Faith

We are members of the Evangelical Alliance and adopt their statement of faith.

We believe in:

  • The one true God who lives eternally in three persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

  • The love, grace and sovereignty of God in creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming and judging the world.

  • The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which are the written Word of God – fully trustworthy for faith and conduct.

  • The dignity of all people, made male and female in God’s image to love, be holy and care for creation, yet corrupted by sin, which incurs divine wrath and judgement.

  • The incarnation of God’s eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ – born of the virgin Mary; truly divine and truly human, yet without sin.

  • The atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross: dying in our place, paying the price of sin and defeating evil, so reconciling us with God.

  • The bodily resurrection of Christ, the first fruits of our resurrection; his ascension to the Father, and his reign and mediation as the only Saviour of the world.

  • The justification of sinners solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ.

  • The ministry of God the Holy Spirit, who leads us to repentance, unites us with Christ through new birth, empowers our discipleship and enables our witness.

  • The church, the body of Christ, both local and universal, the priesthood of all believers – given life by the Spirit and endowed with the Spirit’s gifts to worship God and proclaim the gospel, promoting justice and love.

  • The personal and visible return of Jesus Christ to fulfil the purposes of God, who will raise all people to judgement, bring eternal life to the redeemed and eternal condemnation to the lost, and establish a new heaven and new earth.

Our Wider Family

 

We are a Baptist Church and belong to the local Central Baptist Association and national Baptists Together (the Baptist Union of Great Britain).  

The vision of Baptists Together is “Growing healthy Churches in relationship for God's mission.” 

The Basis of the Baptist Union is expressed in its Declaration of Principle: 

  1. That our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the sole and absolute authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and that each Church has liberty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer His laws. 

  2. That Christian Baptism is the immersion in water into the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of those who have professed repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who 'died for our sins according to the Scriptures; was buried, and rose again the third day'. 

  3. That it is the duty of every disciple to bear personal witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to take part in the evangelisation of the world.