What we Believe

As a Christian Church, we are fascinated and captivated by Jesus, so, everything is all about Jesus, his message, his personality and his identity as the Son of God.

We believe Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins: (things we do that we know are destructive, unhelpful or damaging to ourselves or others that make God unhappy). By carrying all our sins into the grave, Jesus has made peace with God the Father on our behalf, and removed the barrier that keeps us from experiencing God for ourselves. By rising from the dead, Jesus shows us that we can also have eternal life beyond the grave if we put our trust in him.

We believe that Jesus is the Son of God the Father, and that Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, (the third person of the trinity and the part of God who comes to us, now Jesus is in heaven), to live within us, helping us to live Jesus-centred lives that please God.

As a Baptist Church, we interpret the New Testament as giving us a model of Baptism that is chosen by people deciding to become Jesus’ disciples. So, we Baptise people who have decided to follow Jesus, (of whatever age), by immersing them in water, which symbolises being washed clean, but gives us a visual picture of dying with Christ and of rising to live a new life with him. Because we Baptise people who have chosen for themselves to follow Jesus, we have a ceremony for infants called dedication. This is because, as parents who want the very best for our children, we want to dedicate them to following Jesus (which means we will bring them up within the family of the Church so they can learn about Jesus for themselves. When they decide they want to follow Jesus for themselves, we baptise them).

We believe that God has spoken to us through the Bible, a whole library of very different books which speak of what God wants for us, and we believe that God wants us to use our intellect and understanding to interpret the Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit.

We also believe that decisions made in church life are best made by everyone in the church who is committed to serving the church by becoming a Church Member who prayerfully tries to understand what God wants for us as a local church, so we take votes on important decisions.

Baptists believe in freedom of conscience, so we don’t require anyone to sign up to the Creeds. But as the Minister of the Church, I try to ensure that all of my teaching is in agreement with the Creeds, which are the Statements of Belief that all mainstream Christian Churches uphold and believe in.

Here is the Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty, 
maker of heaven and earth, 
of all that is, seen and unseen. 
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, 
the only Son of God, 
eternally begotten of the Father, 
God from God, Light from Light, 
true God from true God, 
begotten, not made, 
of one Being with the Father; 
through him all things were made. 
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, 
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary 
and was made man. 
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; 
he suffered death and was buried. 
On the third day he rose again 
in accordance with the Scriptures; 
he ascended into heaven 
and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, 
and his kingdom will have no end. 
We believe in the Holy Spirit, 
the Lord, the giver of life, 
who proceeds from the Father and the Son, 
who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, 
who has spoken through the prophets. 
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. 
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. 
We look for the resurrection of the dead, 
and the life of the world to come. 
Amen. 

If you have any questions, do please feel free to contact me.
Revd Mark Welch. (Minister) Dagnall Street Baptist Church.
minister@dsbc.org.uk