What we Believe

As a member church of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and of the Evangelical Alliance, we align ourselves with their statements of faith and declarations of Principle

What Baptists believe

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’. Simply put, we only baptise believers, not children, not adults, but believers. 
   1. Why don’t we baptise babies?
      We believe that the significance of baptism is only properly expressed when the person is old enough to demonstrate committed Christian faith. This is not to say that God doesn’t love, accept and welcome children - of course He does. Children are extremely welcome in our church. Instead of Christening or baptising young children we hold a service of Dedication with all the church present to 'Dedicate' parents with their youngsters, pray for them and support them in the ongoing work of raising children toward making their own faith decision. 
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.

We believe in living out our Christian faith as effectively as possible, having an impact on those who have not yet heard or experienced the great news about Jesus Christ.

We believe we should share the good news about Jesus, equip people in their faith journey and see them live out their faith in the world.

At the church, 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.

This text was taken from the Evangelical Alliance basis of faith page