What We Believe

We think the message of Jesus is great news for everyone and want to help people get to know him better.

St Thomas' Church has been in Kilnhurst since 1859. We have clear convictions based on the truths revealed by God in the Bible, and these truths stand behind all that we aim to be, do, practise and proclaim as a church.

That being said, you don't need to be a convinced Christian to come along on a Sunday and we love to run courses specifically designed for those who want to ask tough questions and find out more about the Christian faith.

Three basic characteristics describe us:

• We are a Christian church

  We believe in one God who has revealed himself supremely through his Son, Jesus Christ. It is only through faith in Jesus, trusting his death on the cross for our sins and his new resurrection life, that we can come to know God and become part of his kingdom.

 

• We are an evangelical church

  We believe that the Bible is God's authoritative word and the definitive guide for us in all matters of faith and conduct. We believe that the Spirit of God achieves the work of God through the word of God, and so the study and teaching of the Bible is the way God works to transform individual lives and the church family as a whole.

 

• We are an Anglican church

  We are a parish church in the Church of England, and hold to the great truths that were rediscovered at the time of the Reformation, including the sovereignty of God in salvation, justification by faith alone and salvation in Christ alone. A formal representation of our faith is given in The Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer and The Ordinal, though they're all in a language a lot more old-fashioned than you'll find in our services!

You can find a simple summary of the Christian faith on the 'Two ways to live' website.

Our belief is that this understanding of the Christian faith best represents the central truths of the gospel. This is the basis of our unity, the foundation of our ministry and the content of our message.

Find out more about our mission and what this means for us day-by-day by following some of the links at the top of the page.