The Foundations of Letchworth Baptist Church

Letchworth Baptist Church is an independent evangelical church, open to all, seeking to be a  family of faith, demonstrating God's Kingdom love and compassion to those in the community around us, sharing the Good News with all. In so doing we seek also to be faithful to God's word.

We are affiliated to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

 We affirm:

  • The divine inspiration and infallibility of the Scriptures, as originally given.
  • Those principles known as the Doctrines of Grace and commonly called Calvinism:
    • The the unconditional election of believers;
    • The total depravity of mankind in consequence of the fall;
    • The substitutionary atonement of our Lord Jesus for the sins of his people;
    • The vital ministry of the Holy Spirit in calling, regeneration, holiness, assurance and anointing for witness and service;
    • The eternal security of born-again believers.
  • The literal character of the account of creation in Genesis 1, as confirmed by Exodus 20:11 and 31:17
  • The continuance of the gifts of the Spirit, in line the principles stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
  • A fivefold duty for Christian believers of:
    • Living for God's glory;
    • Praying for the world;
    • Witnessing for Christ;
    • Serving one another and the community;
    • Upholding and contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

We are waiting for the personal return of our Lord Jesus Christ in glory.

Baptism

Our practice is to baptise those who profess faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.

Communion

The Communion Table is open to all true believers.

Membership

Membership of Letchworth Baptist Church is open to all who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, who have professed this faith in baptism and are able to confirm their agreement with the Basis of Faith.

Our Basis of Faith

We believe in:

  1. The full inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; their authority and sufficiency as not only containing but being in themselves the word of God; the reliability of the New Testament in its testimony to the character and authorship of the Old Testament and the need of the teaching of the Holy Spirit to a true and spiritual understanding of the whole.
  2. The unity of the Godhead and the divine coequality of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; the sovereignty of God in creation, providence and redemption.
  3. The utter depravity of human nature in consequence of the fall, and the necessity for regeneration.
  4. The true and proper Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ; his virgin birth; his real and perfect manhood; the authority of his teaching and the infallibility of his utterances; his work of atonement for sinners of mankind by his vicarious sufferings and death; his bodily resurrection and his ascension into Heaven; and his present priestly intercession for his people at the right hand of the Father.
  5. The justification of the sinner solely by faith through the atoning merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
  6. The necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, conversion and sanctification; also in ministry and worship.
  7. The resurrection of the body, the judgement of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the righteous and the eternal punishment of the wicked.
  8. The observance of baptism as an ordinance of divine institution but not as conveying any regenerating grace; and the observance of the Lord's Supper as a commemoration of our Lord's death but not as being a sacrifice for sin, nor involving any change of the substance of the bread and wine.
  9. The personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory.

Working with Others

Where possible we seek to work with others to further the Kingdom of God in Letchworth Garden City, the nation and the world. As members of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) we  agree with the Fellowship's ethos statements.