Following a period of consultation and prayer in 2024, we identified these 8 key values as being a good description of many of the things that describe what we are like
Loving
At Bethesda, we aim to be person centred, believing that people are more important than projects. We try to operate in a relational way and offer a pastoral care structure alongside an encouragement for people to form caring friendships with others.
Accepting
People tell us that they feel welcome and accepted at Bethesda. We have a high percentage of children in our church family who are neurodivergent with additional needs such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, attachment issues etc. Everyone is welcome irrespective of their age, disability, race or sexual orientation. We are committed to continually come back to scripture to try to ensure that we are hearing and obeying what it is saying and not just following what has been commonly understood amongst Christians.
Learning together
At Bethesda we aim to be interactive. We are exploring the Biblical emphasis on learning and growing together, and we are continuing to experiment with ways to make space in our gatherings for this.
Children & Young People are Valued
We are continuing to develop as a loving and nurturing community where children and young people can grow and flourish. A number of people have noted how well we love, care for and learn from those who are neurodiverse in our church family. We believe that we have a lot to learn from our children and young people and we make space in our gatherings for this. (You can find out more about our commitments to children and young people here).
Relaxed Atmosphere
Our gatherings are informal and relaxed in nature, and we want people to feel at ease as they explore and grow in faith. We don’t want people to feel that they need to be someone who they are not to fit in at Bethesda.
Creative
We love seeing creativity expressed and are considering ways we can make even more space for this. We believe that people learn in a variety of ways and we want to enable those who learn more visually or in a hands on way to have the opportunity to do so.
Life Focused
At Bethesda, we are committed to whole life discipleship. We are aiming to work together to discover more about what living with and for Jesus means in our everyday lives.
Hope
As a caring church, we feel strongly about wellbeing. Life can be difficult and cruel at times and we want to help one another to discover the fullness of life and hope that Jesus promised. We believe that God is at work, restoring us so that we can live freely as the people who he created us to be.
As a Baptist Church we also accept the Baptist Union Declaration of Principle as the foundational basis of our faith, belief & practice:
The Basis of the Baptist Union is:
1. That our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the sole and absolute authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and that each Church has liberty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer His laws.
2. That Christian Baptism is the immersion in water into the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of those who have professed repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who 'died for our sins according to the Scriptures; was buried, and rose again the third day'.
3. That it is the duty of every disciple to bear personal witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to take part in the evangelisation of the world.