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 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 the 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 indwells 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, which are congregations of believers who 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 of Christ 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 in fellowship with God. God will make all things new and will be glorified forever.

This statement of faith is taken from the FIEC. 

Doctrinal Distinctives

What follows is a summary of the positions we hold to on several matters of secondary importance. Whilst we believe these statements to be true and defend them robustly, we recognise that throughout church history there are many examples of faithful denominations, churches and individuals who would hold differing views with whom we will gladly share Christ’s glory in the life to come. 
 
Leadership

We believe that the local church should be independent of any other governing authority, however we recognise the need for strong Gospel partnership between distinct local fellowships as demonstrated in the New Testament. The local church should be led by a plurality of suitably qualified Elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7) who have been set aside by the members of that local church to serve in this capacity. According to the pattern of headship which mirrors God’s triune nature and ordained at Creation, Elders are male and have the privilege and responsibility of ‘keeping watch . . . over all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers’ (Acts 20:28). They are to be under-shepherds of Jesus Christ, the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), and give themselves to loving and serving the members of the church (the flock) with the aim of presenting them holy and blameless on the day of Jesus’ return. As required, the Elders will appoint suitably gifted men and women in leadership roles to assist with the running of the church.
 
Membership

We believe that Christians should commit themselves to a local church family, and that as members of that church they will gladly submit themselves to the leadership of the Elders whom they have appointed, as far as such leadership is exercised in accordance with the scriptures. We believe that under God each member of the church is called to love one another, and to utilise their gifts to serve the body of the church. The responsibility of teaching and pastoral care does not rest solely on the leadership, and there is no biblical distinction between Elders and Members in their status before Christ as every believer enjoys direct access to God and is able to minister to others. 
 
Baptism

We believe that the correct biblical understanding of Baptism is that it follows repentance (Acts 2:38), is done out of obedience to the Lord Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17, 28:19), and is reserved for those who have professed faith and are already regenerated by the Holy Spirit. It is an outward sign of something that has already occurred spiritually - that the individual has trusted in the substitutionary saving work of the Lord Jesus to rescue them from death. We practice baptism by full immersion in water, in the presence of the church family and friends, administered by the leadership of the church, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
 
The Lord’s Supper

We believe that The Lord’s Supper is a remembrance meal celebrated by believers in a local church setting. It is primarily a meal for the church family - for members and not individuals by themselves: “…because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf,” (1 Corinthians 10:17) and “when you gather to eat, you should all eat together” (1 Corinthians 11:33). The elements of bread and wine are symbolic and represent the body and blood of Jesus - they do not take on any physical significance or become sacred in and of themselves at the point of sharing in the meal. As it is shared together the body is built up and each are reminded of their commitment to the Lord Jesus and to one another.
 
Spiritual Gifts

We believe that the Lord God continues to give spiritual gifts to His followers as He wills by His Spirit. These are for the purpose of working ‘for the common good’ (1 Corinthians 12:7), for the building up of the church (Ephesians 4:16), and they should be used out of love for one another to safeguard the unity of the family. In the same way as one body has many parts, the church family is made up of individuals, each with their own role to play to assist in the functioning and flourishing of the whole.
 
Men and Women
 
We believe that God created men and women with absolute equality, in His image, to glorify Him (Genesis 1:27). God also ordained differing roles for men and women, in particular within the covenant communities of marriage and the church, and so we hold to a complementarian position: Men and Women are equal in status, joint-heirs with Christ but differ in their roles. We affirm that Gender is given to us as a gift by God when He ‘knit us together in the womb’ (Psalm 139:13). Marriage is only to be between one man and one woman, and the gift of sexual intimacy should only be enjoyed within this context.