But is it Christian?

Statement of Faith

We believe in God,  maker of all things, giver of life.
We believe in Jesus, voice of the voiceless, lover of life.
We believe in the spirit, comforter, sustainer of life,
We believe in the community of faith and doubt,
called to be at the service of all people.

We believe in the value and dignity of each human being.
We believe that all people are equal before God,
embraced in God's love
and welcome in our community.
We proclaim the Priesthood of all Believers.

We respect the richness of different faith journeys
and seek to offer ourselves to one another and to God
in maturity, with honesty and integrity.
We look for a time
when Liberty, Justice and Equality
are made real for all people.

 

This statement of faith is based on the UFMCC statement of faith and our own core values which reflects the values which are central to our community.  A summary of the UFMCC statement of faith follows.

The church is founded on the statement of faith based on the Nicene and Apostles Creed.. This statement of faith says:


Christianity is the revelation of God in Jesus Christ - foretold in the Old Testament, presented in the New Testament and proclaimed by the Church in every age and land.


MCC is firmly established as a Christian Church built on traditional teachings about Jesus and firmly routed in the Bible.


Founded in the interest of offering a church home to all who confess and believe, MCCs move in the mainstream of Christianity.


The UFMCC statement of faith affirms that:


We believe in one triune God ... of one substance and of three persons: God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

 

We believe:


that the Bible is the Divinely inspired Word of God, showing forth God to every person through the Law and the Prophets.


We believe:


that the Holy Spirit is God, available to and working through all who place their welfare in God's keeping.


We believe:


every person is justified by grace to God through faith in Jesus Christ.


This theological belief in justification by grace through faith is one of the mainstays of UFMCC's faith statement.  In addition, we believe:


that the church serves to bring all people to God through Christ.


Our worship serves to bring prayer, interpretation of the Scriptures and preaching and teaching of the Word.

Other details of faith are up to the individual believer.  The statement of faith is general enough to embrace a wide diversity of historic and evolving Christian belief.  In MCC in East London our membership is made up of people from a wide variety of denominational backgrounds including: Methodist, Baptist, Church of Scotland, Salvation Army, Catholic, Church of England, Elim Pentecostal and none.  Members are not expected to denounce their other churches, many people have dual membership with other denominations.

 

 

Inclusivity


In MCC we believe that God's love includes all people and we try not to exclude people by our language, our ideas or the services that we provide.  Practically speaking this means working towards meeting in buildings which people who are physically challenged can enter, providing materials in Braille and large print for those with visual impairment and signing our services so that those with impaired hearing can participate.

Inclusivity is reflected in the language that we use in public worship services.  Where possible God is spoken of in gender neutral terms or the female is balanced with the male, 'black' and darkness' as metaphors of sin and evil are avoided as is 'stand' and 'walk'. 

The ordination of women is not an issue in UFMCC, currently, 51% of our clergy are women.