1 Name
The name of the Church shall be the Granville Community Baptist Church.
2 Doctrinal Position of this Church
This Church shall hold to the following evangelical doctrines set out in the Baptist Union of NSW Incorporation Act, 1919 (NSW) and amplified by the 1979 Baptist Union of NSW Assembly:
• The nature and unity of the Godhead (Matt 28:19, Eph 4:6)
• The deity and humanity of Christ (John 1:1, Phil 2:6—7)
• The Holy Spirit (John 14:26, 2 Cor 13:14)
• The divine inspiration of the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16)
• The sinfulness of man (Rom 3:10,23)
• Christ’s atonement for the sin of man (Rom 3:25—26, 1 Peter 2:24)
• The work of the Holy Spirit in salvation (John 3:5—6, Rom 8:9—11)
• The Church (Matt 16:18, Eph 1:22—23)
• The baptism of believers only, and by immersion (Matt 28:19, Rom 6:3—4)
• The communion (Luke 22:14—20, 1 Cor 11:23—26)
• The return of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 24:30 Acts 1:11)
• The resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:20, 2 Cor:4:14)
• Rewards and punishments in a future state (Matt 25:31—46, Rom 14:12)
3 Government (i.e. decision-making)
- The Church shall be affiliated with the Baptist Union of NSW accepting its responsibility to support and share ministries undertaken by the denomination.
- Recognising the headship of Jesus Christ and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Church shall be governed in line with the fundamental Baptist principle of the autonomy of the local church and congregational government. That is, the decision making of this Church shall be vested in the body of believers who compose its membership.
- Notwithstanding this principle of autonomy, the Church recognises and sustains the obligations of mutual counsel and co-operation which are common among Baptist Churches. Therefore the Church will be interdependent as well as independent.
4 Objective
The Church adopts as its objective (which it believes to be in harmony with the purpose of Christ’s Church as declared in the New Testament) the desire to glorify God through:
- The inspiration and maintenance of active spiritual growth among its congregation by the regular assembling for public worship and the administration of the ordinances.
- The proclamation of the truths of the Bible so that persons experience salvation.
- Teaching, training and discipling all who come to faith in the Lord Jesus so that they grow together in love, are loyal to each other and grow to maturity in Christ under the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
- Proclaiming the sole Lordship of Christ Jesus in the lives of the members of the congregation and seeking to fulfil His desires in the life of the community, nation and wider world through evangelistic and other missionary enterprises. To assist those who are in need in the belief that social action and evangelism are mutually our response to the gospel.