What We Believe?
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Every Baptist congregation is different. Baptist churches meet in different kinds of buildings, adopt various styles of worship and may even have differing convictions on some matters. Exactly the same is true of other denominations, of course. It is also true that most of what Baptists believe places them in mainstream Christianity, whereby they share a common faith with other Christian denominations. In a Baptist church, there may be some things that are immediately and obviously different to any visitor from a different tradition. For example,
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Baptist worship is relatively simple without a large amount of material read from a prayer book;
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A strong emphasis is placed on preaching, and this is likely to take up a fair part of any service;
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Ministers may be wearing special robes but are more likely to be dressed like anybody else;
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Church life can be quite busy. Baptists enjoy being together and try to live as an open and welcoming community;
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When we celebrate communion, the bread and wine (usually non-alcoholic) are normally distributed around the congregation rather than received at the front of the church;
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When baptisms take place, this is by full immersion in water. This is where the name ‘Baptist’ comes from. Those being baptised are old enough to have made their own decision to follow Christ. To be a member of a Baptist Church, the candidate must have been baptised;
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When newborn children are welcomed into the church community, they are welcomed through a short service called ‘infant presentation’, or sometimes ‘infant dedication’. In this service, the child and parents are blessed, and the parents and the congregation make promises. The infant is not baptised.
These ways of doing things reflect some basic beliefs about what is important in being a Christian with Baptist beliefs.
Basic Beliefs
Baptism is a good place to start when talking about our basic Christian beliefs.
Baptists do not practise infant baptism but what is called ‘believers’ baptism’ 1. This is because being a Christian involves choosing to follow Jesus Christ, and nobody else can make that decision for us. It is a personal decision, and infants are too young to make it. To be sincere, faith has to be free and not compelled. Believers’ baptism symbolises this free decision.
Following on from this, Baptists believe in the ‘free church’ principle. This means that each congregation is free to make its own decisions under God. This results in Baptist churches being characterised by the very significant involvement of their members in making decisions about the life of the church. This is a process that others would describe as ‘democracy’. Baptists think of it as ‘discerning the mind of Christ’ 2. They have also always been committed to the need for religious liberty and a free society in which to live.
Baptist DNA
Baptist churches believe in -
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The lordship of Christ that sets us free to be our true selves;
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The authority of the Bible, because in the Bible, we learn about Christ;
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Believers’ baptism because it expresses a truly personal faith;
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A free or believers’ church because it is a genuine expression of Christian community and consists of people who have made a ‘covenant’ commitment to each other;
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The priesthood of all believers because it affirms the place of all Christians in the worship and service of God;
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Church membership and Church Members’ Meetings, because in this way, we can all take responsibility for the life of the church;
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Interdependence, because we need each other, and each church needs other churches;
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Sharing the faith because we are people of conviction and want others to become part of us;
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Religious freedom is important because only free faith is true faith, and everyone should have the freedom to form their own convictions.
Together, these beliefs create a distinctive identity for a Baptist church.
Leadership in the church3
All leaders in a Baptist congregation are there because the church members have elected them. Ministers are those who have been specially called to their work and extensively trained for it. They are commissioned by being ordained but can only serve any particular congregation because they have been called to do so by the church members.
They are teachers of the Christian faith and pastors of the church, sharing their faith in the community wherever they can. Together with local leaders who are known as deacons and (sometimes) elders, they serve the church by leading it in its mission.4 All of these people seek to be available to help others inside and outside the church.
Doctrinal Detail
(This section is based on the Evangelical Alliance Basis of Faith page.)
As a church, we believe in…
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The one true God who lives eternally in three persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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The love, grace and sovereignty of God in creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming and judging the world.
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The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures—the written Word of God—make them fully trustworthy for faith and conduct.
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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.
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The incarnation of God’s eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary. He was truly divine and truly human, yet without sin.
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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.
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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.
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The justification of sinners is solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ.
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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.
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The Church is 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, proclaim the gospel, and promote justice and love.
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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.