Who we are and what we believe
We are ordinary people who believe, through faith in God, that Jesus Christ, being the Son of God is our personal Saviour. We are but one 'denomination' of the people who are known
throughout the world as Christians. Christians believe from the prophecies in the Old Testament and their fulfilment in the New Testament, that God sent Jesus into the world to:
- Demonstrate his love for each individual
- Offer each of us His forgiveness, if we repent, for the wrongs we have done
- Promise His constant companionship with us in all circumstances
- Take man's sins upon Himself, and die as a sacrifice to God, so that those sins may be forgiven
- Rise from the dead, with the promise of eternal life to all who believe in Him
"Baptist" has been used as the name for this denomination because, unlike many of the other Christian groups who baptise infants, we regard the act of Christian baptism as a person's indication of his or her own decision to follow Jesus. This denomination therefore practices "believer's baptism", rather than automatic baptism of infants.
The early Church, founded by Jesus and recorded in the New Testament, describes only baptism of those who believed - there are no cases of infant baptism.
Baptism as practised in the Baptist denomination is by full immersion in water symbolising:
- The death, burial and resurrection of Christ
- "Washing away" the old life and rising to a new life with Christ
World-wide, the Baptist church is the largest Protestant denomination, with over 38 million members in around 200 countries. Nationally, the Scottish membership of around 14,000 is small compared with that of the Church of Scotland.
Here in Cupar, church membership is open to all who state their allegiance to the following "Declaration of Faith"
- I believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and accept Him as my Lord and my Saviour. I believe the Holy scriptures to be the inspired Word of God. I commit myself to serving Him in His Church, to following His teaching in my life, and to witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the world.