What we believe
Our Beliefs
One God: Father, Son & Holy Spirit
Belief in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit is at the heart of our faith. Christians believe that Jesus is God’s Son. Jesus reveals to us that God is our Father. And God’s love is available to us through the Holy Spirit. This is called the ‘Trinity’.
LOVE & SACRIFICE
It was God’s love for us, and our separation from him through our sins and failures that led Jesus to be executed on the cross. This willing death was a sacrifice which means we can be forgiven and be put right with God. We can have a living relationship with our loving Father who made us, loves us and welcomes us home.
We want to give everyone the opportunity to find the life-changing love of God that we’ve experienced!
LIVING OUR FAITH
Living as a Christian isn’t about following rules or using willpower to be nice. God gives us the Holy Spirit who fills us with love and compassion, and helps us to know that our life on this earth isn’t the only thing that matters.
Find out more at: https://www.churchofengland.org/our-faith/what-we-believe, or come to one of our services.
Our Church
ANGLICAN
‘Anglican’ means that we are part of the Church of England, and the worldwide Anglican Communion. We are also part of the Diocese of Blackburn and fully support the diocesan vision to see ‘Healthy Churches transforming communities’. We’re fairly informal at St Thomas’ - particularly at the 11am and 7pm services - but we do make use of the rich resources of Anglican liturgy (spoken prayers). We also seek to serve our community as a local parish church.
EVANGELICAL
‘Evangelical’ means that we take the Bible seriously because we believe it is God’s inspired word, and therefore our ultimate authority in all matters of faith and doctrine. We place a high value on understanding the Bible well, and applying it fully to our lives. This is also why St Thomas’ Church are members of the Evangelical Alliance.
CHARISMATIC
‘Charismatic’ means that we want to be open to God’s Holy Spirit, who we believe is living and active in our world. We believe that God speaks to us today and that he has given his Church an amazing range of gifts; and so we want to be open to all God wants to do in and through us. This is also why we are members of the New Wine network.