Statement of Faith
God
There is one God, who exists eternally in three distinct but equal persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is unchangeable in His holiness, justice, wisdom and love. He is the Almighty Creator, Saviour and Judge who sustains and governs all the things according to His sovereign will for His own glory.
The Bible
God has revealed Himself in the Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments alone. Every word was inspired by God through human authors, so that the Bible as originally given is in its entirety the Word of God, without error and fully reliable in fact and doctrine. The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and practice.
The Human Race
All men and women, being created in the image of God, have inherent and equal dignity and worth. Their greatest purpose is to obey, worship and love God. As a result of the fall of our first parents, every aspect of human nature has been corrupted and all men and women are without spiritual life, guilty sinners and hostile to God. Every person is therefore under just condemnation of God and needs to be born again, forgiven and reconciled to God in order to know and please Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin and lived a sinless life in obedience to the Father. He taught with authority and all His words are true. On the cross He died in the place of sinners, bearing God's punishment for their sin, redeeming them by His blood. He rose from the dead and in His resurrection body ascended into heaven where He is exalted as Lord of all. He intercedes for His people in the presence of the Father.
Salvation
Salvation is entirely a work of God's grace and cannot be earned or deserved. It has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ and is offered to all in the Gospel. God in His love forgives sinners whom He calls, granting them repentance and faith. All who believe in Christ are justified by faith alone, adopted into the family of God and receive eternal life.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven to glorify Christ and to apply His work of salvation. He convicts sinners, imparts spiritual life and gives a true understanding of the Scriptures. He dwells in all believers, brings assurance of salvation and produces increasing likeness to Christ. He builds up the Church and empowers its members for worship, service and mission.
The Church
The universal Church is the body of which Christ is the head and to which all who are saved belong. It is made visible in local churches, where the congregations of believers are committed to each other for the worship of God, the preaching of the Word, the administering of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for pastoral care and discipline and for evangelism. The unity of the body is expressed within and between churches by mutual love, care and encouragement. True fellowship between churches exists only where
they are faithful to the Gospel.
Baptism And The Lord's Supper
Baptism and the Lord's Supper have been given to the churches by Christ as visible signs of the Gospel. Baptism is a symbol of union with Christ and entry into His Church but does not impart spiritual life. The Lord's Supper is a commemoration of Christ's sacrifice offered once for all and involves no change in the bread and wine. All its blessings are received by faith.
The Future
The Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory. He will raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness. The wicked will be sent to eternal punishment and the righteous will be welcomed into a life of eternal joy and fellowship with God. God will make all things new and will be glorified forever.
Further Beliefs
• Doctrinal Distinctives
We recognise that there are a number of doctrines, not referred to in the Statement of Faith over which genuine Christian believers may take different views. Our Doctrinal Distinctives set out the position and teaching of the Church on these matters. Church members are not required to agree with the matters in the Doctrinal Distinctives and may hold and discuss views to the contrary, but members are required to respect the positions set out in the Doctrinal Distinctives as the teaching of the Church and should not be insistent on their own views or divisive over these matters.
o Creation and Evolution
God created the heavens and the earth, including all life, by direct act in six literal days as clearly detailed in the Scriptures (Gen 1:1; John 1:3; Col 1:16-17). Man was created by God directly and in His image; consequently, man did not evolve from lower forms of life (Gen 1:26-27).
o Baptism
The ordinance of Believer’s Baptism, by immersion, is open to all those who profess repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and wish to obey His command and follow His example. Believer’s Baptism is encouraged through the teaching of the Church and is normally expected of members.
o The Lords Supper
The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is open to all those who profess repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and are at peace with their fellow believers. Partaking in the Lord’s Supper is encouraged through the teaching of the Church and is normally expected of members.
o The Lord’s Day
Observance of the Sabbath Day is a Creational Ordinance (Gen 2:2-3) and reiterated in the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:8-11). It is given by God for the well-being of mankind and should be observed by refraining from normal work; this is pleasing to God (Is 58:13-14). Jesus Himself laid down the principles for Sabbath observance (Matt 12:1-14, Mk 2-23-28, Lk 6:1-11). The Biblical pattern is that one day in seven is to be kept holy which provides opportunity for Believers to spend time in fellowship together and corporate worship. This was practised in the New Testament when the Church came together on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) and became the Lord’s Day (Rev 1:10). The teaching of the Fellowship, although not specifically prescriptive, is that this day should be set apart and honoured in accordance with Biblical principles.
• Ethical Statements
• Marriage – our Basis of Faith sets out that the Bible is the final authority for all matters of belief and practice and the Members of the Church agree that the teaching of the Bible is that marriage is between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6, Ephesians 5:31-33) and that all sexual practices outside of marriage between a man and a woman are sinful and wrong. This includes homosexual practices (Romans 1:24-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) regardless of whether or not homosexual marriage is permitted by the laws of England and Wales. The Bible also teaches that we must not be actively or passively complicit in sin (1 Corinthians 6:18-20; Ephesians 5:8-16; 1 Timothy 5:22) and that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). It is therefore part of our doctrine that in relation to any activities of this Church we must in no way condone, promote, assist or encourage adulterous or extra-marital sexual practices, whether heterosexual or homosexual.
• Sexuality – The Church adopts the Nashville Statement as our statement on human sexuality.