What We Believe

As a church, we affirm the historic beliefs of Christianity and of our tradition of Baptistry. This can be found in detail in documents such as the Apostles’ Creed, the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, and the Baptist Union of Great Britain’s Declaration of Principle.

In summary:

We believe in the Christian Scriptures. We believe God has revealed Himself to humanity in a unique way through the Bible, with the Old and New Testaments, which are entirely reliable, clear, free from error, and a sufficient basis for our beliefs and way of living. All our other beliefs flow from this source.

We believe in the Trinitarian God. We believe that God is Trinity, three Persons in one undivided Being, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe in Creation, Fall, and grace. We believe God created the world. We believe that our first parents, Adam and Eve, rebelled against God and brought sin into the world. We believe that God has, ever since, shown kindness and mercy to humanity in various ways – from making the sun to shine and the rain to fall, to communicating Himself lovingly to the Jewish people through a series of Covenants. A Covenant is a promise from God, where God will do something if a certain condition is fulfilled.

We believe in the incarnation and ministry of the Son. We believe that God the Son became man as Jesus Christ, and lived a perfect and blameless life, fulfilling the Jewish Law perfectly. We believe Jesus demonstrated His divinity by His blameless life and through the miracles God performed through Him that authenticated His claims.

We believe in His death, resurrection, and ascension. We believe that Jesus was executed by evil men for a crime He did not commit, but that God in His kindness counts this as a sacrifice for sin on behalf of those whom Jesus loves. We believe that Jesus rose on the third day, conquering death for those who follow Him. We believe He ascended to Heaven, entering the Heavenly Temple and being accepted as a perfect sacrifice and High Priest on our behalf.

We believe in the chosen church of Christ. We believe God the Father has given the Christian Church to His Son as a reward for Jesus’ obedience. We believe God gathers to Himself a people in every age, drawing them to Himself by His loving will.

We believe in congregational church government. We believe that each local church is instructed by Scripture to govern itself, calling its own leaders, and exercising its own church discipline upon members. We believe that each local church should be associated with other churches, both in the local area and further afield, for the purpose of mutual support.

We believe in the sacraments of the church. We believe that those who believe receive the benefits of the Covenant of Christ, which Jesus has fulfilled for us. Two of these benefits are the sacraments, or signs: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These involve the believer enjoying the reality of God, communicated by the Holy Spirit in the sacrament. Baptism is the joining ceremony, where believers are “buried” with Christ by full immersion in water and rise to new life in the church. The Lord’s Supper is the family meal of the church, enjoyed with Christ in Heaven by His church on earth.

We believe in the mission of the church. We believe that Jesus has commanded the church to spread the good news of His sacrifice for sin to every corner of the earth, baptising believers and teaching them everything He commanded. We believe that the church is called to works of mercy, aiding and blessing its neighbours.

We believe in Christ’s future eternal reign. We believe that Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead, and that after the final judgement, believers will live in peace and joy with Christ forever.