What We Believe

What we believe

We are an Anglican Church, committed to the core doctrines of historic Anglicanism, as expressed in the creeds, the 39 articles, and the Book of Common Prayer.

We believe that we come to Jesus Christ by faith alone, trusting in Christ alone, and that the Bible is our sole authority for understanding what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God in three persons.

We believe that God created the world, that he is sovereign over all things, and that he sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins that we might no longer be God’s enemies, but so that we would be reconciled to God. To repent and believe is to turn our backs on our old life of living for self and ignoring God, and to turn to Jesus Christ as saviour and Lord.

Jesus’ Lordship extends to every area of our lives, and we seek together and as individuals to live for him each day, as a response to his grace, recognising that our assurance is based not on our works but solely on trusting in his death and resurrection.

We believe that when we turn to Christ we receive the Holy Spirit, and that he works with our spirit to enable us to become the people God has called us to be. He helps us to understand God’s word, and he prepares us for Jesus’ return. Jesus Christ will come as judge of the whole universe, and will take his people to be with him in a new heaven and a new earth.

Safeguarding at St Alkmund’s

At St Alkmund’s we believe that everyone is created in God’s image and that as such we have a duty to value all people and to protect them from harm.

Therefore we are committed to nurturing, protecting and safeguarding all our members, particularly children, young people and vulnerable adults. We also recognise that safeguarding is the responsibility of the whole church community.

We accept and endorse the safeguarding policies and procedures as set out by the Diocese of Derby on its website

Safeguarding – Diocese of Derby (anglican.org)

We also follow the Diocese’s Safer Recruitment Process in the selection, appointment, training and support of those working with children or vulnerable adults, including the use of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) disclosures and making appropriate referrals to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

We will respond without delay to concerns or allegations that a child or vulnerable adult may have been harmed, cooperating with the police and social care services in any investigation, and we will challenge any abuse of power by anyone in a position of trust.

We will seek to offer pastoral care and support to anyone who has suffered abuse, developing with them appropriate pastoral support. We will also seek to offer pastoral care and support, including supervision and referral to the proper authorities, to any member of our church community known to have offended against a child, young person or vulnerable adult.