Our foundation

Our purpose and our community are founded on the love of God discovered through faith in Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We believe that God’s love is experienced most fully in the forgiveness and new life God offers to us through faith in Jesus Christ. Christ’s death for us on the cross and his resurrection are central to our faith (1 Corinthians 15:1 - 4) and declare Jesus to be God and Saviour (Romans 1:4). We uphold the Bible, read with sensitivity and respect, as true and reliable in its witness to the character, purpose and promises of God; we accept its authority as the Word of God and, in the power of the Holy Spirit, look to it for direction in faith and life (2 Timothy 3:16f).

Our purpose

Our purpose is to create, in the power of the Holy Spirit, a community which nurtures personal faith in Christ, shares God’s love and offers hope to a needy world.

We will renew the biblical emphasis on Christian community as God’s way of providing for the discovery, experience and sharing of faith, love and hope. We will seek to build our church community on the foundation of Jesus Christ and under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

We will seek to be obedient to Christ’s command to:

call all people to a personal faith in him.
provide for the poor, uphold human dignity and pray and work for peace with justice.
send or support people for distant or cross-cultural mission.

Our community

We commit ourselves to the direction of the Holy Spirit that we might be a church that is prayerful, caring and compassionate and in which every member is encouraged to grow towards wholeness in life and faith.

We affirm every church member’s responsibility for ministry, understanding that the role of the clergy is to lead and equip church members so that they might exercise their ministry in the most effective way (Ephesians 4:12). We encourage every member to discover and use her or his God-given gifts for the good of the church community and its mission (1 Cor 12:4-7). We acknowledge both the grace of God and our own frailties and therefore offer acceptance and understanding in the name of Jesus (2 Cor 4:7).

We seek to honour all age groups and we value the blessings that flow from fellowship which includes different generations.

We value both traditional and contemporary worship and celebrate the Holy Spirit’s ability to speak to the heart through different worship styles.

We endorse small groups that meet for prayer, study and fellowship as a key means of growth in Christian maturity.

Our personal responsibilities

We affirm the following personal responsibilities

To nurture a personal faith in Jesus Christ.
To be open to the direction of the Holy Spirit, so that faith is integrated with life.
To reflect regularly and carefully on the Word of God.
To be faithful in prayer for one another, for church leaders and for those in need.
To be faithful to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
To encourage one another in faith and love.
To be a witness for Jesus by word and deed.
To contribute time, energy and spiritual gifts to our church and its mission.
To make involvement in Sunday worship a priority.
To give generously and systematically to the financial needs of our church and its mission.