Who we are
A biblical, reformed, evangelical, Anglican church seeking to serve the kingdom of God and fulfil the commission of the Lord Jesus.
We are biblical.
We believe the Bible is the word of God and we value and teach all of it.
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, penned through human authors, both the Old and New testaments reveal God, His plan, His purpose, and His actions throughout salvation history, all pointing to and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
We commit ourselves to the public reading of the Bible in church services, study the Bible together in LifeGroups, and encourage all our members to be regularly immersed in the word of God in order to nurture our personal relationship with Him.
We are reformed.
Taking root in the 16th century, through the work of reformers like John Calvin and Thomas Cranmer, there was a spiritual movement which challenged the institutional church to return to beliefs and practices shaped by Scripture in the Bible. The church was challenged to reform.
From this reformation movement many church denominations were birthed, including our own. We continue to stand in the line of believers dependent on five ‘sola’ (which means ‘alone’) statements: Scripture alone, Christ alone, by Grace alone, received through Faith alone, for the glory of God alone.
We are evangelical.
This word ‘evangelical’ has meant many things to different people over the years. ‘Evangelion’ (in Greek) translates to ‘gospel’ or ‘good news’; in fact, ‘the best news ever!’ It relates to Jesus.
Evangelicals see the person and work of Jesus as central to the Bible’s teaching. We delight in being led by the Holy Spirit to confess Jesus as ‘Lord’, ‘Messiah’ and ‘Christ’, glorifying God by announcing this ‘gospel’.
We believe that by His death Jesus has atoned for the sin of the elect, reconciling us to God the Father, and by His resurrection he has been declared Lord forever, ushering in a new hope into which we now stand.
We believe Jesus will return again, bringing the new creation in which heaven and earth will come together, renewed and restored as the dwelling place of God with His people forever.
We are Anglican.
We are part of the worldwide Anglican Church, and more locally, the Wollongong Region of the Diocese of Sydney. As a diocesan fellowship, we have committed to the following purposes and priorities.
Our rector, or senior minister, reports to Peter Hayward, Bishop of the Wollongong Region. Peter is answerable to the Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel. This oversight allows a line of accountability and brings us under Anglican Church governance.
We believe the 39 Articles of Religion, the historic creeds (Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian), we use the Book of Common Prayer (at 8am and 9.30am [Mt Kembla] services) and practice both infant and adult baptism and confirmation.
We’re commissioned for His Kingdom.
We seek to constantly calibrate life according to Jesus’ commission to seek first and share His kingdom in prayer, thought, word, and deed.
Our best expression of seeking and sharing His kingdom is captured in ‘disciplication’. Yes, that is a made-up word! It simply means that we want to see the multiplication of disciples of Jesus, because God wants this for all of us. Jesus’ commission is to make disciples who make disciples.
His word in the Bible enables us to say of our kingdom commitment:
We are making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20)
who belong to Jesus (John 10:14-15)
growing in faithfulness (Colossians 1:28)
and in fruitfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7).