We Believe ...

We are a community of faith – a group of people joining together out of shared beliefs about who God is and what it means to live lives that are connected with God.

Having faith is not as complicated as it may seem. At its simplest, it is seeing that there is something special about Jesus. It is recognising that what he taught, what he did, and in particular in his dying and rising again the glory of God is fully revealed.

Church isn’t just for people with faith. It is for people who want to find faith. It is for people struggling with their faith. It is for all the faithful so that we can continue to grow in faith, hope and love. Faith is for all who seek deeper meaning in life and hope in death.

Over the centuries theologians have explained that there are various ways in which God reveals himself to us. St Thomas Aquinas long ago identified two main ways that God does this: through ‘general revelation’ and ‘special revelation’.

General revelation refers to the ways in which God is disclosed to us through the everyday experiences and workings of life, such as the observation of the wonders of the natural order, the reasoning of philosophy and rationality, the promptings of conscience etc).

There is only so much about God that we can work out on our own. And that’s where special revelation comes in. Special revelation refers to spiritual or supernatural self-disclosure by God that would not become known too us through the ordinary course of life. Over the centuries Christians have understood this to include the revelation of God that is communicated through the Scriptures (Bible), through the active presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church (eg. through prophecy, mystical experiences and the miraculous) and foremost, the greatest revelation of God being the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

So we are a community of people who see that the life of Jesus discloses the very life and nature of God to us. We see in Jesus’s life the expression of God’s love for humanity. He is our way, our truth and our life. His teachings become our moral and ethical framework, challenging us to live in a way that recognises our weaknesses, brokenness and failures and how they can be healed and made whole through God’s love. His life becomes our source of life and hope, as we believe that his death and rising from the dead deliver us from sin, death and despair.

From the teachings of the Bible and the theological thinking and experience of generations of Christians we know God as the Holy Trinity – a mystery of one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We believe that God is present and active in our lives as individuals and as a faith community through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. By opening our hearts, minds and souls to the Holy Spirit we are strengthened for the journey of faith, growing in our relationship with God.

When we gather for worship it is to honour God and nourish our faith. We hear the Scriptures read and explained. We offer praise to God and his forgiveness is proclaimed for those who seek it sincerely. The sacrament of Holy Communion, by which we break bread and share wine, draws us into the very life of Jesus as we share in his body and blood by faith – sharing in his saving power that overcomes sin and death.

Our worship helps us to experience the Good News of the Christian faith: we may each find new beginnings in God. We are not prisoners of our past. We are loved by God who calls us into his kingdom.

Baptism marks the beginnings of our journey of following Jesus, that is being disciples, as members of the Church. It is a journey that we live out by prayer, reflection, contemplation, service and acts of charity, worship and ongoing study of the Bible and the insights of other Christians over the centuries. Above all, it is a journey that we live out by seeking to know Christ, love him and follow him.

We hope that you will visit us or get in touch if you would like to join us on this life-giving journey.