This page provides general information about FBCG's beliefs and objectives. To obtain specific information about upcoming church events, please see the Announcements page. To find out more specific information about various church ministries, please visit the Ministries page.

First Baptist Church, Guelph has the following Objectives, Statement of Faith, Church Covenant and Committee Structure as set out in the Church Constitution (sections 3, 4 and by-laws).

3. Objectives:

1. To preach, teach, promote, disseminate, advance, demonstrate and implement the Gospel of Jesus Christ within the local community, throughout Canada and to people everywhere and thus fulfill the command of our Lord and Saviour that His Gospel be preached in all the world as a witness for all nations.

(Please see the Constitution, section 3 for objectives 2(a)-(n) and 3(a)-(e))

4. A. GUIDING PRINCIPLES
We, the people who are First Baptist Church, Guelph, recognize that there are certain basic principles that determine our identity as a Baptist Church. We recognize that the following principles as revealed in Scripture need to be affirmed as we establish the foundations of our lives together.

a) Primary Allegiance: We affirm the lordship of Jesus Christ, and that the Church is the body of Christ and belongs to him not us. We affirm that He is the centre of all endeavour, the focus of worship and authority and the ultimate source of strength and guidance for all our mission and ministry. This reflects the lordship of Christ and the authority of Christ in all we do.

b) Priesthood of All Believers: The work of the Kingdom is to be performed on the basis of gifts and call, not human position, power, race, or gender. This reflects the spiritual equality of the individual believer and his/her soul liberty before God.

c) Covenant Community: We understand the Congregation to be a covenant community wherein we each share privileges, responsibilities and accountability. We are bound to one another with ties of love, compassion and service and as such pledge to encourage, support and uplift each other for growth, faith and service.

d) Congregational Government: Within the Church all authority rests with the Membership gathered together to discern the will of God. Within the Church, authority is given by the Membership. The individuals, leaders and committees of the Church are responsible to the Membership. This reflects our understanding of the leadership style of Christ and historic Baptist polity.

e) The sufficiency of Scripture for faith and practice.

 

C. STATEMENTS OF FAITH / STATEMENTS OF BELIEFS
We believe in the one and only true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

a) We believe that the Father is Creator and ruler of all things, the all loving Father; and righteous judge of the living and the dead.

b) We believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, God’s Son, truly man and truly God, two natures meeting in one person. Born of the virgin Mary, crucified, died and was buried, raised from the dead, our redeemer from sin and death to everlasting life, giver of every Spiritual blessing in whom is the forgiveness of sins by the grace of God through faith.

c) We believe in the Holy Spirit, God within us and at work in the world.

d) We believe that God inspired the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. That He composed them, concurrently with human authors, making them the authoritative rule for our faith and practice.

e) We believe in the Church the Body of Christ, a community of believers, a living fellowship for worship and the proclamation of the Gospel.The priesthood of all believers.

f) We believe the Christian faith should manifest itself in Godly living, in harmony within the family of God, in love toward all, and in faithful witnessing and self-denying service in the world as set for us in the example of our Lord. In which we observe believer’s baptism by immersion and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and the proclamation of the Word as the effectual means of Grace.

 

D. CHURCH COVENANT

Having been led by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and upon profession by our faith, we do now, in the presence of God and this assembly, enter into covenant with one another.

We commit ourselves, as a community of believers, to affirm and seek to live out the Statements of Faith of First Baptist Church, Guelph.

In addition, we pledge before God to accept our responsibility to bear a Christ-like witness in all of our endeavours, both within and beyond the Church.

We shall promote, support and participate in the worship, baptism and communion of the Church, and we shall commit ourselves to both personal and spiritual growth and service in the areas of our spiritual gifts.

We also covenant to work with one another in Christian love, to live our lives with integrity and justice, to treat each other with respect to practice a caring and compassionate concern with one another and to hold one another as equals before Christ.

We also confess that our witness extends beyond the bounds of the Congregation and pledge to carry out the essence of this covenant wherever we may be placed by God.