Every church has some distinctive values and practises that form its identity. These are things, which we consider to be important because they bring out who we are and why we believe God has called us together to serve and worship Him. For us, these include:
We practise baptism by immersion -
In the New Testament, whenever someone came to follow Christ as their Saviour, they became identified with Jesus in the waters of baptism. The word “baptism” is simply the Bible’s word for immersion. Although baptism has no saving merit, the practise observed in the Bible is that baptism took place shortly after conversion, therefore we encourage the newly saved to be baptized as soon as possible.
We observe the Lord’s Supper every week –
We take a very simplistic approach to most things: Whenever possible, we want to follow the practises of the Christians in the Bible. The New Testament is clear that whenever the believers came together for worship on the first day of the week, they had communion. We do the same.
We rejoice that Jesus Christ changes lives -
We haven’t arrived yet. All believers are still in the process of becoming more like Jesus. This is not always an easy process. For some it appears to be taking place quickly. For others the road seems slow and difficult. But we know this: when Jesus reigns and rules in someone’s life, that person is never the same. Therefore, it is our desire to direct people to Jesus, the only One that can effect positive long term change.
We observe the practise of headship and headcoverings –
Again, as already said, we take a very simplistic approach to most things: Whenever possible, we want to follow the practises of the Bible pertaining to the Church. The Bible clearly states that God is the head of Christ, Christ is man's head and man is woman's head. Since man is the image and glory of God and Christ is His head, it would be a dishonour and a shame to Christ, his head, if man would have his own head covered when praying and prophesying (speaking publicly) because Christ's glory is to be seen and not covered which it would be symbolically if the man were to wear something on his physical head while representing Christ during prayer or ministry. However, since the woman is the glory of man, her head must be covered when she prays or prophesies, because man's glory must not be seen, especially in the gathered Church. Christ's glory alone and not man's is to be displayed there. Therefore, we encourage, not enforce, women of all ages, both married and not, to wear a headcovering as instructed in the Bible.
In essential beliefs- unity
“There is one Body and one Spirit...there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of us all...” Ephesians 4.4-6
In non-essential beliefs-
“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgement on disputable matters. ...Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. ..So then each of us will give an account of himself to God...So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.” Romans 14.1,4,12,22
“...If I hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but also the very secrets of God, & if I have the faith that can move mountains - but have no love, I amount to nothing at all.” 1 Corinthians 13.2 (Phillips)