At it’s heart the Christian faith is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As with any person, there are facts and realities that are true about Jesus and his ways. As a result for a person to be a Christian they must believe certain facts about Jesus. The Christian faith is much more than just believing certain things but it is not possible to remove certain beliefs (or make them optional) and still be a Christian.
As people become Christians and grow there understanding about Jesus develops. We therefore think it is unreasonable to expect a new Christian to have the same level of understanding as somebody else who has been following Jesus from decades.
In addition to this, there are some things that it is necessary for all Christians to believe (primary beliefs) and then other things which genuine Christians can disagree about (secondary beliefs).
As a result it is appropriate to express what we believe in different ways.
We believe that the heart of the Christian faith, is heartfelt and life changing belief in Jesus.
Jesus put it like this
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Or to flesh this out in a bit more detail
A Christian is somebody who is trusting the gospel of grace for my salvation
- They believe that they are a sinner in God’s sight. Without Jesus and his death upon the cross they would face His holy judgement. Their only hope is God’s mercy. See Psalm 51:4
- They believe that Jesus Christ is both Lord and Saviour. They trust Him alone for their salvation, as He is revealed in God’s Word the Bible. See Acts 4:12
- They believe in the realities summarised in the Apostles Creed.
A Christian is somebody who With the Holy Spirit’s help is seeking to grow in godliness
- They want to grow in their relationship with Jesus through personal Bible reading and prayer. See 1 Peter 2:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
- They want to grow in sharing Christ with unbelievers such as they are able. See 1 Peter 3:15
- They want to live a holy life in line with the ethical teaching of the Bible in those different relationships to which God has called them See 1 Thessalonians 4:7
Other really helpful ways of expressing the heart of the Christian faith can also be found here.
It is appropriate the individuals in our church who serve as elders and/or trustees or have a teaching role within our church are clearer in what they believe in a wider range of areas. As a result Cornerstone Church has a statement of faith that all leaders and bible teachers are expected to agree with.
Our statement of faith contains a mix of primary and secondary beliefs. We do not expect that every Christian who is part of Cornerstone Church will agree to every aspect of our statement of faith but will accept that under God and Scripture our statement of faith along with our stated priorites will shape various aspects of church life
Find our full Statement of Faith here.
Please note, our Statement of Faith is supposed complement our Anglican foundations (see the details found under For our minister/pastor). We have a separate statement of faith to add some theological clarity to some areas and as a way of allowing approprateily gifted Christians who are not ‘totally Anglican’ to serve as part of the leadership in our church.
We are an Anglican church but don’t expect everyone in our church to hold every single Anglican belief. For example we are comfortable with an individual serving on our eldership even if they don’t agree with the idea of bishops. However it essential that our minister should agree with bishops and be a convinced Anglican.
As a result, the minister of our church (like all ordained ministers in AMiE) will agree to the following and is true of all faithful Anglicans throughout the world.
We believe the doctrinal foundation of Anglicanism found in the Bible, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal. We also hold to the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration.
If you have any questions or clarifications about what we’ve said here about our beliefs please do get in touch. Many of the details found on this page and the Our Priorties can also be found in our Aims, Values and Beliefs Booklet.