- Minister: Pastor Peter Price
- Barnstaple Baptist Church
- Boutport Street, Barnstaple
- Devon
- EX31 1TD
07957969001
Email Us
Barnstaple Baptist Church (BBC) Statement of Faith (ETHOS)
1.Our Christian Identity - BBC is a community of Christians who live to worship God, to grow in our understanding and experience of God, to share the good news about Jesus Christ and to work for the common good. It is this Christian identity, our covenant with the Baptist community and BBC’s agreed beliefs and values that are the foundation of all we are and do.
2.Our Commitment to the Wider Baptist Community - BBC has chosen to covenant with the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) and its member churches and organisations; therefore, BUGB’s Declaration of Principle, Vision, and Culture all inform our ethos as a Baptist church.
3. The Declaration of Principle -The three-part 'Declaration of Principle’ forms the basis of understanding for all who belong to the Baptist Union and BBC affirms this declaration prayerfully and wholeheartedly:
1)That our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the sole and absolute authority in all
matters pertaining to faith and practice, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and that each Church has liberty,
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer His laws.
2)That Christian Baptism is the immersion in water into the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of
those who have professed repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who 'died for our sins
according to the Scriptures; was buried and rose again the third day'.
3)That it is the duty of every disciple to bear personal witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to take part in
the evangelisation of the world.
Statement of Belief
In recognition of the Baptist principle that each church has liberty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer the laws of Jesus Christ, and following the ethos outlined above, BBC has discerned and agreed to hold to the following theological convictions. This church recognises that all of us are sinners, and that the only true hope for sinful people is through faith in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Our earnest prayer is that their love, truth, and grace would characterise our responses to those who challenge our understanding of Biblical truths which we believe is neither hateful or homophobic. We affirm that marriage is an institution created by God in which one man and one woman enter into an exclusive relationship for life. This marriage of one man and one woman is the only form of partnership approved by God for sexual relations.
We seek to be a community of grace in which those who experience life relationships different to our affirmation above, but seek, by abstinence, to live faithfully in accordance with biblical teaching are welcomed and can be accepted into full Church membership. All Christians need churches which are safe spaces where they are able to share and explore their stories with fellow believers for mutual encouragement and support as we help each other grow together into maturity in Christ. We can neither accept and/or endorse sexually active partnerships outside of Christian marriage consequently this church could neither recommend into leadership nor accept into membership any who were participating in such relationships nor could we endorse by giving a blessing or ceremony to the joining of such a couple.
We seek to welcome and accept sexually active lesbians and gay men. However, they should do so in the expectation that they, like all who are living outside God’s purposes, will come, in due course, to be challenged by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God through the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ to accept Biblical teaching as set out in our affirmation, informed by the verses below.
BBC acknowledges that while gender reassignment in and of itself is no barrier to participation in the life [and membership] of the church, on the basis that the Bible teaches God created man and woman and a person’s gender is God given and assigned at birth, this theological position precludes transgender persons from being appointed to leadership positions in the life of the church. Romans 3:23 (NIV)Matthew 19:4-6 (NIV)Romans 1:26,27. 1 Cor.6:9-11 (NIV)TRANSGENDER: Is well documented in the "Transformed" publication by“The Evangelical Alliance” see pages 13 to 16. https://www.eauk.org/resources/what-we-offer/reports/transformed-understanding-transgender-in-a-changing-culture. We at BBC would want to support unreservedly individuals who find themselves in this unenviable situation.
Women in Leadership - BBC holds to the view that God created women and men equal in personhood and that He calls and equally affirms both men and women into a vast array of roles, including all forms of church leadership.
Marriage & Divorce - BBC holds to the understanding that there are legitimate biblical grounds for divorce (e.g. sexual immorality, abuse and neglect). Under these circumstances remarriage should not be a barrier to leadership or full participation in the life of the church.