The term “Reformed Baptist” defines both what we believe and how we ‘do’ church.

• The term “Reformed” connects us to the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, which brought renewed emphasis to biblical truths such as the sovereignty of God in salvation (that people become right with God, not by anything that we do, but by the work of the Holy Spirit producing faith in the hearts of sinners) and the priesthood of all believers (the belief that, because of the death of Christ on the cross, Christians need no human mediators to enter the presence of God).

• The term “Baptist” identifies us with those who believe that baptism is to be carried out by those who have turned to Him by faith, symbolizing their identification with His death, burial and resurrection. An act of obedience to Christ, it is that ordinance which proclaims the believers’ union with the church, the body of Christ. Furthermore, Baptists believe that the local church is the fundamental institution through which God intends to accomplish His purposes and that no higher institution has authority over the local church.

Reformed Baptists began in the 1950’s and 60’s as a renewal movement among Baptists in the U.S. and Britain who were rediscovering the importance of the theological heritage of Baptists. Typically, Reformed Baptists are independent, congregational, local churches governed by a plurality of elders and deacons and holding to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith.