A very warm welcome to Ashford Baptist Church
A very warm welcome to Ashford Baptist Church (ABC). We are an active, evangelical, community church of all ages and many nationalities, based in the centre of town.
Active in the sense that there’s always plenty going on – for children & young people, for adults, and for older ones too (‘seniors’). The pages of this website will give you a flavour of what we do.
Evangelical in that we are committed to proclaiming and living out the life-transforming gospel of Jesus Christ, which is ‘the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes’ (Romans 1:16). We have a high view of Scripture, and seek both to understand and apply it to our daily lives.
Community in that who we are together is as important to us as who we are as individuals. As a medium-sized church of around 150 people, we are big enough to contain plenty of variety, yet small enough to get to know each other reasonably well. With around 20 nationalities represented in the church, we are also multi-cultural.
ABC also seeks to be an important part of our local community, through newly-formed outreach teams into the town centre and new housing estates, and also through involvement in several social action projects amongst those who are particularly vulnerable.
We would love to welcome and meet you in person, so do come along to Sunday worship at 10.30am, or have a look at our other events this week.
Ashford Baptist Church is a member of The Baptist Union of Great Britain, The South East Baptist Association, and Churches Together in Ashford.
What we believe
In common with all Christians, we at ABC affirm the historic creeds which were agreed in the early centuries AD. A simple example is the Apostles’ Creed, which states:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
There are two things which make Baptist churches distinctive from some other denominations within the Christian family. These are:
- We do not baptise babies or infants (‘christening’), but rather wait until a person has made his/her own personal decision to follow Jesus. We then baptise them by full immersion in the pool at the front of the church.
- Decision-making.Baptist churches are congregational in government, which means that all major decision are taken by the wholechurch when it meets together at different times during the year. Although we elect leaders to provide direction, they do so only with the agreement and support of everyone else.
These two ideas are contained within the closest thing Baptists have to a Statement of Faith. It’s called the Declaration of Principle and reads as follows:
- 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.
. - 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’.
- 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.
Ashford Baptist is a UK Registered Charity and our Charity Commission number is 1130593.