What we Believe

This page contains our doctrinal statement, which is a summary of the main truths we believe and unite around as a church family.' To read our Vision and Values statements please CLICK HERE

God

There is one God, who is perfect and 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. God created us male and female, which is identified by our biological sex. Marriage is the exclusive union of one man and one woman and is a picture of the relationship between Christ and his bride the church. Sexual intimacy is a gift from God to be enjoyed only within the context of marriage.

The Fall

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.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Welcome

If you're thinking of joining us or visiting us once we start to meet from January 19th 2025 onwards, this information will hopefully give you a feel of what to expect from a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We will meet at the Church Building on Greatfield Road (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 10:30am. Most people usually aim to get here a few minutes beforehand so you have time to find a seat. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will be wearing a Welcome badge.

Anyone is welcome. If you are not used to going to church you will find that everything is explained and that you are under no obligation to take part in anything. There is no dress code – please wear what you feel comfortable with. We don’t collect money during any of our services.

We serve tea and coffee after the service.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and there are disabled toilets in the foyer.

Our Service

The service begins at 10:30am with a warm welcome from the service leader. A typical service will also include the following and last for around 70 minutes.

singing together (usually around 5 songs in total across the whole service) - we sing a mix of modern songs and older hymns in a contemporary style
a short "family slot" consisting of a short talk particularly suited to children in the first part of our service
a brief update about any church family news
a member of the church leading us as we talk to God in prayer
a member of the church reading from a passage from God's word, the Bible
a talk which helps us to see the meaning and relevance of that Bible passage to all of our lives today
we then finish with a final song as we respond to what we have heard from God's word
once a month in the service we share the Lord's Supper during the meeting (where we remember Jesus' death for us through sharing bread and wine)

What about my Children?

Children sit with their parents or grown up for the first part of the service. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. After about 20-25 minutes, the service leader will announce when it’s time for the children to go to their various groups.
Whilst you are dropping your kids off at their groups, we pause to take time to chat to someone sitting near or next to us, giving folk a chance to come back before the sermon begins.

We have groups on a sunday morning aged up to 11. We encourage secondary school age children to stay in the service with their parent(s) or grown up who has brought them.

The children's group typically includes games, craft, drama, reading bible stories and prayer. Parents pick up their children when the service finishes.

Other Ministries

We also plan to run the following ministries during the week:

Parent and toddler group
Seniors afternoon meeting
After school groups for both primary and secondary school aged children

Get in touch with us if you would like more information about coming to church

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at Grace Church.