Our beliefs
We are proud to hold fast the Christian faith as it has been handed down since Jesus’s day and strive to put it into action for the sake of today’s world.
- We take the Bible seriously and believe that if we approach its teachings faithfully, we can truly hear ‘the word of the Lord.’
- However, we do not believe that there are simple ‘black and white’ answers to every issue or that difficult questions can be settled by just quoting a text from Scripture; rather, its teachings need to be re-interpreted and re-applied to serve the present age.
- Since prayer has the power to change minds and lives, we encourage one another to pray as well as to read and understand the Bible.
- Since Jesus came that all might have abundant life, we encourage one another to explore God’s calling for them, to discover and develop their gifts, and to step out in faith to serve God’s kingdom.
- In fashioning a faith to live by today, we turn to the Bible (especially to discover ‘the mind of Christ’), tradition (what the Church has understood to be God’s will down the years), our God-given human reason, and our Christian experience. By faithful use of these sources, we believe that God can and does make his will known.
- We gladly baptise babies and young children as a sign that God’s love reaches out to us all before we even know God is there, but we do ask parents and godparents to show that they are serious about wanting their child to be part of God’s family.
- We are also delighted to baptise those who come to faith later in life so long as they have not been baptised before; in the latter case, we offer a service for the renewal of baptismal faith. Believers are baptised either by total immersion (at a partner church with a baptistry) or by sprinkling, as they prefer.
- Since Jesus prayed that all his people should be one, we are committed to working with other Christians in our community and in the wider world.
- We take seriously the word that God’s age-long purpose is to bring all things into a unity in Christ (Ephesians 1:10) and that God’s love extends to enfold all people. Thus, although Jesus is for us the Way, the Truth, and the Life, we respect people of other faiths and are ready to listen to what is precious to them as well as longing to share with them our love for Jesus as Saviour and Lord.
