What we believe
As Christians, we believe that God loves you and that there is a purpose for your life. The Bible says that "all have turned away... no one does good, not even one" (Romans 3:12), but despite this, God loves the world so much that He sent His only Son to die on the cross and pay the price for each of our wrongdoings and restore our relationship with Him. Rituals and religion cannot get us to Heaven - only through a living faith, a relationship with our Maker, can we "have life to the full" (John 10:10) and inherit eternal life.
Statement of Belief
We believe:
- The Bible: The original manuscripts were divinely inspired and are without error. We believe the Bible is the foundation of our faith and is the ultimate authority when forming doctrine.
- The Trinity: There is One God, in three Persons - the Trinity. We believe God exists in the Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that all three are co-equal and co-eternal.
- Jesus: Is the Son of God, was born to the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life and died on the cross in our place for the forgiveness of our sins. He then rose again on the third day, appeared to the disciples, ascended to Heaven and will return again.
- Salvation: Is found through accepting that you have sinned and are not worthy of eternal life by your own merits, believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the righteous price for your sins, asking Him into your heart and repenting of your sins.
What 'Baptist' means
We are committed to working with other churches and we are a member of Churches Together in Presteigne, as we see it is as important to meet together as part of the larger Body of Christ.
There are some beliefs that differentiate Baptists from other Christians - these include:
- Believer's baptism: We believe that infants and young children are incapable of accepting Jesus as their Saviour, so we do not practice infant baptism. Instead, once a person is old enough to decide for themselves, we allow them to be baptised by full immersion, as was practiced in the early church of the New Testament.
- Two offices of the church: We believe in two roles in the church - the pastor and the deacon. The church is led by the pastor, but is governed by a group of senior church members called deacons, who are elected by church members.
- Separation of Church and State: We believe that the Church and the State should be separate entities and we encourage religious freedom and tolerance.
- Church freedom: We believe each Baptist church should be free from denominational interference and should have freedom to govern itself. At the same time, we still encourage fellowship and links with other churches, both locally and nationally.
For more information, see the Baptist beliefs section of the Baptist Union of Great Britain's site.