Our Values

We have distilled our church life into the following values - aspects of our church life that are important.

Worship

• We believe that God wants His people to pray, and that He hears and answers prayer
• Therefore, the ministries and activities of this church will be characterised by a reliance on prayer in their conception, planning, and execution.
• We encourage each member to have a daily, prayerful walk with Jesus Christ.
• We are hungry to know God's presence, hear His voice and follow after Him.
• We are committed to being led by the Spirit of God.
• We honour Jesus as our Lord and the Holy Spirit as our Counsellor.

We aim to have lively and relevant worship, with Christ at the centre, the Holy Spirit empowering, with the teaching of the Bible at its base.
Often there are opportunities for spontaneous congregational involvement in prayers and worship.
We mix contemporary songs with some older hymns. We seek to create an environment which will be inspiring to the Christian without being strange or threatening to the seeker.

Witness

Alpha

We have an ongoing, rolling Alpha programme. Alpha is a Christian basics course for those wishing to find out more about the Christian faith, or those who want a refresher course. Alpha runs for (roughly) twelve weeks with a day away in the middle. After a buffet meal there is a video or talk, and then discussion to respond to any questions raised.
 

Community

Homegroups

We see involvement in a homegroups as every bit as important as worship services on a Sunday. We try to encourage each member to be actively involved in a homegroup.
We have four evening groups, and one daytime homegroup. The groups study questions which flow from the Sunday teaching. We try to be accountable to one another, modelling openness and honesty.
The homegroups provide basic pastoral care for all members, discipleship, community, worship, training and influence in the local community.

Discipleship

Study courses are available for those who have recently become Christians. These cover subjects like How to Pray, How to understand the Bible, and How to be sure you are a Christian.
 

• We also have a course for those interested in Baptism and Membership. People are linked with one other Christian, and meet once a week over coffee, to discuss the studies.
• We have other courses which happen from time to time, either within or outside the homegroups.
• The homegroups usually discuss the content of the Sunday Teaching. An attempt is made to apply the teaching practically to our lives, asking the question, "How should I then live?"
• We see active service in the church as important. We therefore endeavour to help each new member to find her or his own unique gift from the Holy Spirit, so that they might exercise it in the Body of Christ in Barnton.
• Because a major part of our vision is the importance of homegroups, we encourage prospective members to get involved in these as part of their commitment to the church.

Baptist Principles

Contained within the following 4 sermon files are teaching on Baptist Principles, the basis of the Baptist church.