We are a church with history living out the message of Jesus in a modern world. We are rooted and we are flexible. We see our space as a place to cultivate relationships, worship together and impact our community. We believe that it’s important to integrate healthy spirituality into all aspects of our lives so we invest in those things. And, we welcome all.
We hope to be…
Intentional
We believe that every human being has been intentionally designed by God to live a purposeful and meaningful life. We discover our true identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus.
Everything we do, every gathering, every mission, every activity is an intentional expression. Our goal is to create spaces where people can encounter, embrace and engage with who God is, while learning how to live intentionally themselves.
Inclusive
We believe that all people are full participants in God’s community. It’s not your gender or your sexuality, but your GIFTS that determine your ministry. We believe everyone is called to ministry. Everyone is a “10” at something.
We do everything in TEAM. We welcome constructive feedback and fresh ideas.
We are all at different places on our journey. Our goal is to come alongside and make that journey a more fulfilling and meaningful experience.
Intimate
We believe that God wants us to know Him and His love, His mercy, and His goodness in very real and relevant ways and to understand that our personal faith has community impact.
As a downtown church, it is our goal to be a place where anyone from the community can meet, learn, grow, and thrive.
Inspiring
We believe that we all long to be inspired. Inspiration awakens us to new possibilities and transforms the way we think about ourselves and perceive our own capabilities. It brings clarity and creativity to life.
Creating spaces that are both inviting and inspiring is deeply important to us.
We welcome, affirm, protect and support people of all 2SLGBTQ+ identities. We believe 2SLGBTQ+ people are made and loved by God, and that they benefit Christian communities greatly. We want to be a place that learns from, celebrates, and communes with 2SLGBTQ+ people, and we are actively looking for ways we can better educate ourselves as a congregation and learn from each other.
Sunday Mornings
We want our Sunday morning services to be life-changing. We want people to be drawn into a relationship with the Creator in a way that deepens that relationship.
Every week we come together to express our thanks and praise God. We meet at 10am on Sunday mornings.
Our service is led by our Praise band. Each week there will be different elements that help us to better understand that morning’s topic. Sometimes there will be a musical presentation, a reading, a drama, or a video.
Children will begin in the main gathering, but will be dismissed to part-way through. Our programs run from September – June. If your child wishes to stay with you, there are busy-bags available at the back of the sanctuary. Junior Church is weekly for kids up to Grade 6. We also run an Intermediate Youth Program, usually on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month for those in grades 7-10.
There is always a talk about how different aspects of the Bible apply to our everyday lives.
We think worship (what we do on Sunday morning) is about connecting and communicating with God. But, our goal is not just to do that on Sunday morning. Our goal is to become people who do this every day. You will find people here who use a wide variety of spiritual practices to enhance their private worship throughout the week.
Sunday morning becomes a collective expression of our worship.
Following our gathering, refreshments are served where people have the chance to socialize with each other.
Baptism
When you are baptized you identify yourself as a follower of Jesus Christ. Baptism symbolizes a life in Christ.
The first step in getting baptized is to attend a baptismal class. You will learn what the Bible teaches about baptism and about First Baptist’s baptism process.
We practice believer’s baptism by immersion. This means that someone must be following Christ to be baptized and here we baptize by immersion (going right under the water).
Membership
Many people ask why I should become a member. Why not just attend? Does becoming a member make any difference?
We encourage you if you are a regular attendee to get involved in areas that you feel you can make a positive contribution to.
Membership goes further. It says, “I belong.” It means that you are committing yourself to our church community. It means that you will look out for others and that they will look out for you. It is a way of fully identifying yourself with our mission.
Membership means that you can vote at our business meetings where decisions are made about the direction of the church.
Membership also means that if you have the gift of leadership, you could be a team leader of ministry area that you are passionate about.
If you would like to become a member, please contact us. We look forward to having you serve alongside us!
Statement of Beliefs
We believe in God, Jesus, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We believe that God is the Creator and Redeemer of all things; all-loving and the righteous Judge of the living and the dead.
We believe that Jesus Christ, our Lord is God’s Son; truly man and truly God, two natures meeting in one person, born of the virgin Mary, crucified, died and was buried, raised from the dead; our Redeemer from sin and death to everlasting life; giver of every spiritual blessing in whom is the forgiveness of sins by the grace of God through faith.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is God’s presence with us, our guide and comforter and at work in the world.
We believe that the Bible is God inspired, both the Old Testament and New Testaments of the Bible; that God composed them concurrently with human authors, making them the authoritative rule for our faith and practice.
We believe that the Church, the Body of Christ is a community of believers; a living fellowship for worship and the proclamation of the Gospel; the priesthood of the believers.
We believe that the Christian faith should manifest itself in godly living, in harmony within the family of God, in love toward all, and in faithful witnessing and self-denying service in the word as set for us in the example of our Lord; observes believer’s baptism by immersion and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper; proclaims the Word of God as the effectual means of grace.