About Us
Worship at Witton Chapel
Our worship services are traditional in format following
the New Testament pattern of giving prominence to the preaching of God's
Word and including the offering of public prayer and praise to God who
is to be served with "reverence and godly fear" (Heb 12:28).
We use the 'Authorised Version' (King James Version) of
the Holy Bible, believing it still to be the most accurate and faithful translation
of God's Word out of the original languages.
Our hymns are to be found in 'Grace Hymns' which includes
a great number of well-established hymns used by the Christian Church over
the centuries.
Our Faith and Practice
Witton Chapel is probably best described as
Our faith and practice are prayerfully based upon the Bible
and this description reflects something of the attempt to summarise our
beliefs in a succinct and informative way. A short explanation of this
description is given below but a good summary of our doctrinal position
may be found in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith.
Witton Chapel is:
- Independent
- Evangelical
- Reformed
- Baptist
We believe in the autonomy of the local church. The Church
at Witton Chapel is independent of any Church hierarchy or denominational
structure and is self-governed. Elders are chosen from amongst the members
to fulfil the teaching, ruling, preaching and pastoring roles identified
in Scripture.
The Evangelical position depends on the principle of 'sola
scriptura': that is, the view that Scripture is the Word of God and is
the only and sufficient guide in all matters of our faith and practice.
Evangelicals affirm the doctrine of 'grace', that God
forgives sinners because He is gracious and that His grace is free and
unmerited.
An Evangelical believes that we are are justified by faith
alone in Christ; that is we are declared righteous and therefore saved
from the consequences of sin.
Evangelicals declare that we are saved and accepted by
God only because Christ was punished in our place. It is by faith in Christ
alone that we are saved, through the merits of Christ alone.
In addition to this doctrinal position, there is a distinctively
Evangelical life. An Evangelical seeks to live by Scripture, seeks to live
for God, and seeks to declare the gospel message to all.
By using the title 'reformed' we are attempting to convey
two main thoughts.
Firstly, we are identifying ourselves with the body of
theological beliefs that is commonly referred to as the 'Reformed Faith'.
This understanding of the Bible's message was articulated by the Reformers
during the 16th century Reformation in Europe. It includes the truths that
are upheld by the Evangelical position described above but it also includes
an emphasis on the 'Doctrines of Grace' that speak of such truths as 'the
total depravity' of man without Christ and the 'limited' or 'particular'
nature of God's election of sinners to salvation.
Secondly, we are indicating our desire to undergo continual
reformation. There is no perfect church, either in belief or practice,
and we seek to be submissive to God's Word, as modern day reformers.
Adopting the title 'Baptist' indicates our practice of
baptising believers on profession of their faith in Christ. We believe
that baptism is to be undertaken by believers only and that it is properly
administered by immersion.