Churches can differ a great deal and we are sometimes asked just what sort of a church we are here in Childs Hill.  It is not an easy question to answer but we will try:

We are an evangelical church

We believe the Bible is God's Word and that its message must be taken seriously.  We believe the evangel or gospel, which means "good news".  God has sent his Son, the Messiah or Christ, into the world, as he promised to do.  His name is Jesus (or, you might say it Yeshua, Isha or Iesu).  Just as God intended, this Jesus (fully God and yet also fully man) was crucified on behalf of his people and so secured their salvation from sin and hell, by making atonement for them.  All who trust in the Lord Jesus find forgiveness and eternal blessing in him.  Find out more

We are also a grace church

We believe God is a God of love and power and that, in his grace, he saves those he has chosen.  We do not believe people go to heaven because of their race or religion or good deeds, or because they are better than others in some way.  No, it is only because God has saved them.  We believe just what the Bible teaches - that there is hope for anyone, however bad that person may have been, as long as he or she repents and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ

We are a baptist church

We follow the simple local church structure taught in the New Testament.  We have little place for bishops or archbishops, or needless ritual and ceremonial.  We do not "christen" babies either.  Children are more than welcome to our meetings and we give thanks for each one.  But we follow the New Testament pattern and only baptize someone when he or she has personally decided to trust in the Lord Jesus and live a life of obedience to him.

We are independent

We are independent as far as the way we run is concerned.  The church is not run by outsiders nor is it part of a large man-made organization.  We do not rely on outside funds either.  We aim, by God's grace, to meet our costs from the pockets of members of the congregation.  We avoid jumble sales and other fund-raising events as we feel they distract from what we are doing and can give the impression that we lack faith in God to supply our needs.

Although we are independent, we assemble regularly with what are known as Grace Baptist Churches (the assembly has often been held in Child's Hill).  We also belong to Affinity - a grouping of more than a thousand evangelical churches from different parts of Britain.