Whaddon Way Church: About Christianity

about Christianity

Christianity is the 2000 year old religion that grew out of Judaism when God decided that he wanted a more active involvement with mankind, and firstly became locally human in the person known as Jesus of Nazareth (the Incarnation) and then globally as the Holy Spirit.

Whaddon Way is a Christian Church - a somewhat unusual one as it is a combination of two traditions - the free church, congregational Baptist and the catholic, established Church of England or Anglican.

However both Anglican and Baptist traditions are Protestant and Trinitarian and we believe that what we have in common is much greater than what separates us. However this sort of ecumenical thinking is relatively recent, and unfortunately many churches and denominations believe that only they have the correct version of Christianity. In 325AD all the major players in Christianity were brought together to produce a statement of what Christians believed. the result was the Nicene Creed. It is reproduced (translated) below and it forms the basis of faith of all the major Christian churches.

We accept the Nicene creed as a foundation document, but at Whaddon Way we are aware that the day to day expression of Christianity is not submission to a detailed set of rules that are set in stone, fixed and unchanging. It is a living faith in a living God and Christians are encouraged to explore, discuss and work-out their faith and in the process make their relationship with God deeper and richer. We believe that God wants a loving and active relationship with us; the sort of relationship a good parent has with a mature child.

There is much on the internet and much more in the bookshops to help with this, and the links to the right provide access to some of this material.

Nicene Creed

The text of the Nicene Creed, from the Anglican Common Worship is below:

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,
seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.