Ridge Church

In essential beliefs we have unity.

“There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one home when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

In non-essential beliefs we have liberty.

“Accept him whose faith is weak without passing judgment on disputable matters. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master, he stands or falls. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. So whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourselves and God.” (Romans 14:1; 4; 12; 22)

In all our beliefs we show love.

“If I hold in my mind, not only all human knowledge but also the very secrets of God and have the faith that can move mountains but have no love, I amount to nothing at all.” (1 Corinthians 13:2)

Our Beliefs

THE BIBLE

We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God; that the sixty-six books, as originally written, comprising the Old and New Testaments were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God and were entirely free from error; that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union.

GOD

We believe in one God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal, existing in three equal Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

JESUS CHRIST

We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His eternal existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry and personal return.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit Who convinces of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; Who regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ.

SATAN

We believe that Satan exists as an evil personality, the originator of sin, the archenemy of God and man.

HUMANITY 

We believe that humans were divinely created in the image of God; that they sinned, becoming guilty before God, resulting in total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death.

SALVATION

We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a vicarious, expiatory and propitiatory death; that justification is by faith alone in the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord.

FUTURE THINGS

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and in the judgment and conscious, eternal punishment of the wicked.

THE LOCAL CHURCH

We believe that a church is a company of immersed believers, called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus, voluntarily associated for the ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe it is a sovereign, independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of Christ, the Great Head of the church. We believe that its officers are pastors and deacons.

ORDINANCES

We believe that there are only two ordinances for the church regularly observed in the New Testament in the following order:

  • Baptism, which is the immersion of the believer in water, whereby he or she obeys Christ’s command and sets forth their identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
  • The Lord’s Supper, which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes of the two elements, bread and wine, which symbolize the Lord’s body and shed blood, proclaiming His death until He comes.

THE CHURCH AND STATE

We believe in the entire separation of church and state.

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

We believe in religious liberty; that every person has the right to practice and propagate their beliefs.

THE LORD'S DAY

We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s day and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.

CIVIL GOVERNMENT

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society; that government officials are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed, except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of the conscience and Prince of the kings of the earth.

HUMAN LIFE  

We believe that all life is sacred and created by God in His image (Gen. 1:27).  Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the elderly, the physically and mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death.  

Because all people are loved by God and made in his image, every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28 - 31; Luke 6:31) regardless of a person’s gender, race, religion, background or sexual orientation.  Hateful and harassing behaviour or attitudes directed toward any individual are not in accord with Scripture.  

GENDER  

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female.  Males and females are given distinct, complimentary characteristics that together reflect the image and nature of the God who made them (Gen. 1:26 - 27).  We believe that the rejection of one’s biological gender is a rejection of the image of God within that person. 

HUMAN SEXUALITY AND MARRIAGE 

We believe that God made human beings with a tremendous drive to express themselves sexually.  We stand with the historical Christian church, believing that sex is a gift from God. It is a gift, however, to be enjoyed within the boundaries God provides.  The Bible teaches that these boundaries are within the context of marriage, between a husband and wife (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2 - 5; Hebrews 13:4).  We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man* and one woman* in a covenant relationship that is monogamous, heterosexual and intended for life. 

*Where this statement refers to marriage of “one man” and “one woman”, those phrases are understood to refer to persons who are biologically male or female from birth.


You can find the official statement of faith for all Fellowship Churches here