About Us
Some material for this section is drawn from "The Baptist Basics Series", Baptist Union of Great Britain
What is a Christian?
A Christian is someone who is in a living relationship with God and who recognises Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Baptists, like other Christians, believe that there is no one so important in human history as Jesus. He is "God with us", and "God's way of showing us what God is like" (from St John's Gospel in the Bible chapter 1 verse 14).
We believe in God the creator of all that is.We believe that Jesus is the Son of God.We believe He came to earth, lived, ministered to people around Him, was crucified on a cross, died and rose again. We believe that through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is at work today, here in Girton.
We believe that each one of us is individually responsible before God and that we have a duty to work to free people from want, discrimination, ignorance, oppression and injustice.
You don't have to be a Baptist to be Christian. As Baptists we share our basic beliefs with many other Christian denominations, enabling us to work closely with them. For example, here in Girton we are delighted to be able to work in partnership with the local Parish Church - St Andrew's.
What is a Baptist Church?
The Church is not a building, but a "company of believers" - all of us followers of Jesus. Jesus said wherever any of His disciples meet together in His name, there He is too (from St Matthew's Gospel in the Bible chapter 18 verse 20). Wherever a group of Christians meet and promise together to live and to work as Christian people - there is the church. This is not an optional extra for us.
All Baptist Churches are independent in terms of their governance and finance. An important part of our Church life is our Church Meeting where we come together to discuss the life of the church and plan for the future, trying always to discern God's will for us.
Our Church is a member of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, an association comprising most of the Baptist Churches in this country.
The Bible is our guide in matters of belief and behaviour. This does not mean that we slavishly take it literally, but that we look to the Holy Spirit, and God himself to deepen our understanding and bring the truth to light.
We believe that all Christians are equal in God's sight and that each of us is gifted in some special way. This enables us to support and encourage one another and to minister to one another.
From the Church Minutes...
The opening paragraphs in the Girton Baptist Church Minute book, dated 12 February 1913 read:We, assembled here in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, believing it to be in accordance with His will, agree to form ourselves into a Christian Church.
A fellowship of Believers in the crucified, but now risen and exalted Son of God our Saviour, in order that we may help one another to love and serve God, and by united effort take to others the salvation we ourselves have found in Him.
We take the Holy Scriptures to be our only rule of faith, worship and obedience. We preach and practice Believers' Baptism, but while commending it to the conscience and loyal obedience of all, we do not make it a term of admission to our fellowship, to which we welcome all who have 'Repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who love our Lord Jesus Christ and depart from iniquity'.
What is Believer's Baptism ?
Perhaps the most obvious sign of being a Baptist is our emphasis on "believer's baptism". To be Baptised is the profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Here in Girton Baptist Church we accept into membership Christians from other traditions who may not have been baptised as adults but who have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
Because of our conviction that the Church is made up only of freely believing disciples of Jesus Christ, we believe that baptism must be for believers only. It is the outward sign of our joining ourselves to Christ and His Church.
We baptise people by immersion. That means after a person has publicly declared themselves to be a Christian, they are "buried" for a moment in water, in a baptistry ( a large tank under the floor in the church), then to "rise up" to a new life.
Holy Communion
We usually celebrate Holy Communion on the first Sunday evening and the third Sunday morning of each month, gathering and sharing together in thanksgiving and fellowship. This reminds us, with the powerful symbols of bread and wine, of how Christ suffered and died, but how His death became the key to abundant life.
We have an " open" communion table and welcome all who truly love our Lord to join with us.
Officers
and Deacons
Minister |
Steve Holland 219 Wellbrook Way Girton Cambridge CB3 0GL |
Tel: 01223 277146 |
| Secretary |
Stephen Thornton 100 High Street Girton CB3 0QL |
 |
| Treasurer |
Sally Clilverd 67 Cambridge Road Oakington Cambridge CB4 5BG |
 |
| Eugenio Biagini |
||
| Kay Lowery |
||
| Jen Mills |
||
| Laura Staves |