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What we believe
Introduction
We believe lots of things.
We believe that Jesus shows the way to live a full, authentic and joy-filled life.
We believe that our faith has to be expressed in every aspect of the way we live our lives.
We believe that no act of love, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
And so on. This page is not really about what we believe. It is more like a theological safety net. It's about trying to avoid mistakes people have made in the past when they have thought and prayed and taught about God.
Why we need it
There are three basic reasons why we need a statement of faith.
- It sometimes helps when we want to work alongside other Christian groups. They often expect us to have one, and sometimes want to see it, to check that we are the sort of people they want to (or, sometimes, the sort of people they are allowed to) work alongside.
- More importantly, as a Christian organisation, our membership is open to any Christian who wants to support our aims. We need something which will satisfy the Charity Commission that we are keeping our membership open to the Christian community, and not excluding people from membership who are constitutionally allowed to join as members.
- More importantly still, this statement sets the framework within which our workers (both staff and volunteers) operate. These are the things we believe as a group. Any individual worker will have many more specific beliefs, but they are not allowed to push those beliefs within the context of our work at CCM.
For some people and groups, a Statement of Faith is deeply important. For most of the people who work with us, it is not something to spend too much time on. If you want to be a part of this work, we will not quiz you on your precise understanding of the doctrines listed below. But we do need to know if you (as a member) are comfortable with this statement of faith, and we need to know if you (as a worker) are willing to work alongside us within this framework.
So, with all that in mind, here is our Statement of Faith.
Statement of Faith
We believe in...
- the Divine inspiration and entire trustworthiness of Holy Scripture as originally given and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct;
- the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead;
- the fact of the fall whereby humankind made in the image of God became universally subject to God's judgement;
- redemption from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death as our representative and substitute of Jesus Christ the incarnate Son of God;
- the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;
- the necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit to make the death and resurrection of Christ effective to the individual sinner granting him repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ;
- the indwelling and work of the Holy Spirit in the believer;
- the expectation of the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ;
- the sovereignty of God in creation, revelation, redemption and final judgement; and
- the one holy, universal Church which is the body of Christ to which all true believers belong.
More Questions?
If you still have questions about this Statement of Faith, please have a look at our Reflections on the Statement of Faith page.