At Emmanuel Church we are passionate about building our lives upon the truths revealed by God in the Bible and share clear beliefs based on those truths. But you don’t need to share those beliefs to come along on a Sunday – we love to welcome visitors who are exploring the Christian faith and we run courses specifically designed for those wanting to find out more.

Four basic characteristics describe us:

1. We are a Christian church. We believe in one God who has made himself known to us, supremely, through his Son, Jesus Christ. Knowing God the Father means believing in Jesus and trusting his death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. The great work of God the Holy Spirit is to bring people to faith in Jesus.
2. We are an evangelical church. We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired, authoritative, and trustworthy message to all people and is the definitive guide for us in all matters of truth, faith and conduct. We believe that the study and exposition of the Bible is the means by which God transforms our lives: it is the word of God that does the work of God in the people of God by the Spirit of God. We seek to apply the teaching of the Bible to every area of our lives.
3. We are an Anglican church. We stand in the tradition of the Anglican Reformers of the 16th century, holding with them to the great biblical truths that were rediscovered at the time of the Reformation, including the sovereignty of God in salvation, justification by faith alone and salvation in Christ alone. However, we have church members from many different denominational backgrounds and we unite under Christ, not under one particular denominational banner.
4. We are a complementarian church. We believe that women and men are designed by God to be different as well as created by Him to be equal, and we seek to model this as well as possible in church life. The Bishop of Ebbsfleet has no formal role in relation to our church but we are always grateful to receive his thoughts and advice concerning complementarian evangelical ministry.

The core beliefs of Emmanuel are those set out in the founding documents of the Church of England, namely, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (and associated Homilies), the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal.

‘The doctrine of the Church of England is grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal’ (Canon A5)

If you would like to learn more about our beliefs and values, the best way to do that is to join us on a Sunday morning. If you have any questions, please do speak with either Martin Lane or Rachel Lane.

The doctrinal statement of the Sussex Gospel Partnership is a useful summary of what we believe.

• There is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
• God is sovereign in creation, revelation, redemption and final judgement.
• The Bible, as originally given, is the inspired and infallible Word of God. It is the supreme authority and sufficient in all matters of belief and behaviour.
• Since the fall, the whole of humankind is sinful and guilty, so that everyone is subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.
• The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Son, is fully God; he was born of a virgin; his humanity is real and sinless; he died on the cross, was raised bodily from death and is now reigning over heaven and earth.
• Sinful human beings are redeemed from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death once and for all time of their representative and substitute, Jesus Christ, the only mediator between them and God.
• Those who believe in Christ are pardoned all their sins and accepted in God’s sight only because of the righteousness of Christ credited to them; this justification is God’s act of undeserved mercy, received solely by trust in him and not by their own efforts.
• The Holy Spirit alone makes the work of Christ effective to individual sinners, enabling them to turn to God from their sin and to trust in Jesus Christ.
• All those who believe in Christ are baptised with the Holy Spirit, who lives in all those he has regenerated. He makes them increasingly Christlike in character and behaviour and equips them for ministry in the church and witness in the world.
• The one holy universal church is the Body of Christ, to which all true believers belong. It is made visible in local churches and unity is expressed within and between local churches by mutual love, care and encouragement.
• The Lord Jesus Christ will return in person, to judge everyone justly, to execute God’s eternal condemnation on those who have not repented and to receive the redeemed to eternal glory.