Our Doctrinal Distinctives determine our practice as a Church.
What we do at HSBC on a weekly basis is shaped by our position on a number of
distinctive and important approaches and practices within church life. The following statements summarise these distinctives.
We believe that Baptism into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is an outward sign marking a person’s salvation through Christ and membership of the Church of Jesus Christ. Only people who publicly profess faith in Jesus Christ should be baptised. This should be administered by immersion in water which is a symbol that the person baptised has been united with Christ in his death and resurrection and is included in the benefits of this union.
We believe that Communion is a symbolic meal of remembrance and thanksgiving established by Jesus. In communion, believers share bread and wine together to remind themselves of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, of the new covenant
of salvation which he inaugurated, and to proclaim that he will return. Communion
should be celebrated on a regular basis by the members of the church demonstrating their unity in the body of Christ. Unless requested not to by the church elders, all who
have a genuine saving faith in Jesus Christ and are in good fellowship with the local church can share at the communion table. Jesus Christ is no more present at a celebration of communion than at any other gathering of the members of a local church.
We believe that God is sovereign in the salvation of men and women. Those people who exercise genuine repentance and true faith in Jesus Christ do so because they have been chosen by God. Knowledge of this truth promotes absolute humility and assurance of salvation in believers. It also leads to a participation in mission and evangelism, having experienced God’s salvation. The Church is commanded by Jesus Christ to preach the gospel to all people everywhere, and the proclamation of the gospel is the means by which the elect are brought to salvation. Believers in Jesus Christ are required to display tolerance in their attitude towards those of other faiths, and also to seek to bring them to a true saving knowledge of him by prayer and evangelism.
We believe that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the New Testament may be given to believers today as God himself directs in his sovereignty. The gifts of the Spirit did not cease to be available to the church following the death of the 12 Apostles and they will only pass away when Jesus Christ returns to establish his kingdom. Since the Bible is entirely sufficient in this regard, no additional word or revelation from God is required to enable a person to know God, or to know his will. Where anyone claims that God is speaking a word by any means other than through the Bible, such word must first be tested to determine whether it is consistent with the
Bible before it is accepted. As the church gathers the Elders of the church bear the responsibility for assessing whether any such word is genuinely from God.
We believe that every member of the church is called by God to utilise their gifts by ministering to other members of the church. Though the Elders of the church have, in recognition of their character and gifts, been appointed by the church members to bear responsibility for pastoral leadership of the congregation, teaching and pastoral care within the life of the church is not the sole responsibility of the Elders. We believe that every believer is a priest who enjoys direct access to God and is able to minister
to others.
We encourage members of the church to publicly dedicate any children the Lord may
give them. We do not believe that this act of dedication makes the child a Christian. Rather it provides an opportunity for us all to give thanks for the child, for the parents to commit themselves to bringing the child up within the Christian faith and for the wider church family to recognise their share in the responsibility to care for and teach the child. Likewise, where people are not members of the church, we welcome the
opportunity to publicly give thanks for the gift of any children God gives them