Our Distinctives

Every church is unique, a combination of the personalities and philosophies of those involved. Some church distinctives are deliberate, the product of Christian training, theological understanding, ministry objectives and pastoral emphases. Other distinctives are inherent, the product of the unique blend of personalities involved in any group. All church distinctives should be subject to the authority and pleasure of Almighty God.

On this page, we intend to highlight some of our deliberate distinctives, the methodologies and philosophies that differentiate us from others. Understanding our distinctives will help you understand how we want to reach our ultimate goal, building faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

If you have any questions about these distinctives, please feel free to contact us for more information.

Our Distinctives

Commitment to Biblical Authority

Our philosophy is centered on a commitment to Biblical authority. We hold the Bible to be the only authority for Christianity. As such we are committed to a ministry philosophy that centers around expository Bible preaching and teaching. Our preaching series will tend to be systematic verse by verse expositions of the Scripture.

Our desire is for the Bible to govern our thinking and behaviour. Though as weak human beings we are well aware of our failings, our goal is to live lives that measure up to the ideals that God, through His Word, the Bible, has laid out for us.

Our commitment to Biblical authority governs our relationships to the world and with other professing Christian assemblies and organizations. We believe that the Lord calls us to obedience to His Word, even if the consequences involve distancing ourselves from alliances with people and organizations with whom we are otherwise in agreement.

Commitment concerning Music

We are committed to what might be called “traditional Christian music” styles in our worship services. We encourage Christians to be more discriminating in their own personal musical choices than is the current norm. We believe that certain music styles are dishonouring to God in worship, and some musical styles not only dishonour God but also degrade the soul no matter how good the lyrics might be.

We don’t set out to make musical choices for our people. We don’t publish “good and bad” lists (although we are not without opinions!). We believe that Christian people need to learn discernment from careful Bible study, prayer, and commitment to holiness in living. As such, we offer these pages on our Music Philosophy as educational tools. Your questions are welcome.

Commitment to Baptist Church Polity

We are committed to the notion that the local church is God’s institution for reaching the world. We are willing to cooperate with certain ‘parachurch’ ministries in furthering the mission of God through local churches, but we are discriminating in our choice of ministries we support.

We believe the local church is a body of regenerated (born again) Christians, governing themselves without the interference of a denominational hierarchy, for the purpose of building disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. As such, we are committed to evangelism and discipleship.

In our local assembly, we emphasize the notion of the local church as a ‘body’ – the body of Christ. That means we seek to build strong relationships among our people for the purpose of strengthening their Christian life.

In days to come, our plan is to post position papers and podcasts that more fully explain our philosophy in these matters.

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If you don’t have a church home and are interested in finding out more about our ministry, please contact us. We would be glad to meet at Tim’s and buy you a coffee. That way, even if you don’t decide to fellowship with us, at least you can have a free coffee!

If it’s a little too soon for coffee, please feel free to ask questions. We will be happy to send you any information we can.

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Links

Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International (FBFI)

Proclaim & Defend (the blog of the FBFI)

Bob Jones University

Maranatha Baptist Bible College

Foundation Baptist College

More Information

For more information about our ministry, you may contact us by e-mailing Pastor Don. For contact by regular mail or telephone please see our Contact Us page.