Baptists are one denominational family in the Christian church. Like other Christians we hold some basic biblical beliefs:  We believe ...

· in one God who reveals Himself to us as Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit.

· in the reality of sin in the world and in our personal lives.

· Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to save us from our sins.

· each person needs a personal relationship with Jesus to be saved.

· it is by God’s grace we are saved; we do not earn our salvation by good works.

· one day Jesus will return again.

· we are called to bring the good news of God’s Kingdom to our community and world.

Baptist Commitments and Values

Baptists have core commitments that make us distinct from some other Christians:

1. Our Faith is in Jesus Christ.  God loved the world so much that He gave his only Son, Jesus, to die for our sins so we might have eternal live.  We believe we are saved only through faith in Jesus Christ.  Our response to God’s gift of salvation is to offer our lives back to him in loving obedience and service.  We commit  ourselves to obey Jesus’ teachings and follow his example.  We believe that every area of the church’s life and our personal lives needs to be subject to the Lord as our act of loving obedience to Him.  We believe studying God’s Word (the Bible) and prayer are essential for both churches and individual believers.

2. The Bible is God’s Word. We believe that God communicates His will through the Bible, the  inspired Word of God.  We are committed to the Bible as our final authority in matters of faith (what we believe) and practice (how we live and conduct ourselves).  We believe all persons have the privilege and responsibility to read the Bible prayerfully for themselves. 

3. All Persons are Invaluable.  The Bible affirms that all people are invaluable, uniquely created in the image of God. 

· Because of God’s grace and love, we have the privilege of relating directly with God through Jesus and the Spirit.  We do not need someone else to act as a “go-between” between God and ourselves. 

· God, in His grace, has given each of us talents, skills, resources, and spiritual gifts that we have the privilege and responsibility to use in ministry.   Our contribution is vital to the health of our local church and to building the kingdom of God!

· We respect the dignity of all people.  While we may not agree with other people on certain issues, we have a duty to defend their right to believe as they do.  We support the principle of religious liberty. 

4. Baptism by Immersion for Believers.  Baptism is a wonderful gift from God.  Through baptism we have the privilege of testifying to our faith in Jesus before others,.  And through baptism we have the opportunity to commit ourselves to loving and serving God, aiming to live in obedience to God’s Word.   Baptism is Jesus’ command for those who believe, thus baptism may be one of the first acts of obedience to Jesus in a believer’s life.  Historically, the pattern of baptizing believers (not infants) by immersion (not sprinkling) gave rise to the name “Baptists.” 

5. Authentic Community.  We believe that people are created for relationships with one another.  One of the great gifts of God is Christian community — a church!  True community develops as the Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers.  In the church we worship God together, learn together, grow spiritually together, and use our gifts and abilities in service together.  The church community knows no distinctions based upon ethnicity, age, gender, socio-economic status, or different ability.

In the church we share the Lord’s Supper, as Jesus commanded.   We serve one another the bread and cup, remembering Jesus’ last meal with his disciples.  The bread and cup symbolize the deep bond that binds us together in community – the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. 

6. The Church is Believers Working Together.  We believe that the church is a community of those who share faith in Jesus as Saviour and seek to follow him as Lord. We can think of the “church” as the “universal church” – the worldwide family of believers. We can also speak of “local churches,” where we share together in worship, fellowship, teaching, witness, and ministry (both spiritual and social).  Each local church is made up of believers who profess their faith in Jesus.

Baptists believe that Christ, through the Holy Spirit, is present in the lives of believers within a church.  Believers work together to discern God’s will through prayer, Bible study, and discussion.  Then the church seeks to obey God through corporate decision-making.  The pastor is not the church’s CEO.  Rather the church family, prayerfully, together makes decisions under God’s guidance.

This principle gives each individual Baptist congregation a degree of autonomy and freedom from other churches and denominational structures. However, just as believers come together to govern local churches (through prayer, study of Scripture, and discussion), so  Baptist churches come together in larger bodies (areas, associations, unions, and conventions) to work corporately to know and obey God’s will.

What is a “Canadian” Baptist?

Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM) is a federation of Baptists across Canada including western Canadians (Canadian Baptists of Western Canada), central Canadians (Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec), Francophone Canadians (l’Union de l’Églises Baptistes Françaises au Canada), and Atlantic Canadians (United Baptist Convention of the Atlantic Provinces).   Over 130,000 people and 1100 churches make up the Canadian Baptist family.  

CBM enables us to share in ministry.  As a family we support missionaries in fifteen countries, overseas relief and development projects (The Sharing Way) and service opportunities (CB Volunteers).  Canadian Baptists are part of a larger international family, the Baptist World Alliance which unites more than 42 million Baptists around the world.