Ilkeston Baptist Church is…

A Baptist church 

That should be fairly self-evident from our name! We are affiliated to the East Midlands Baptist Association and the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

One of the things that means is that we practise believer’s baptism, by immersing in water those who have come to personal faith in Christ. Baptism does not act automatically or “magically” to change us; but when people are baptised into Christ as believers, their baptism unites them to Christ and to his new life.

  To find out more about the East Midlands Baptist Association, go to www.embaptist.co.uk

…and to www.baptist.org.uk to see more about the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

An evangelical church 

That means that we believe that being a Christian is first and foremost about coming to know Jesus in a personal way, and living in a relationship with him.  And it means that we believe that the Bible is God’s Word, and we try to base everything we are and everything we do on what the Bible says.

A charismatic church

That means that we understand that becoming a Christian includes the personal experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit; that it should be normal that the whole of Christian life, mission and worship is empowered by the Holy Spirit, and that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to every believer to enable him or her to do the works of Jesus.

A free church 

That means that we’re independent – we’re a local family church, not part of a big institution; and that we’re informal – we don’t have set formulae or rituals: we try to encourage a relaxed atmosphere, where people can feel at home, and can share in our life as much as they want to, without any pressure.

A Gospel church

That means that we believe that the role of the church is to serve our community, to share the love of God with as many people as possible in word and deed, and to preach the Gospel, and so help people to experience for themselves a new relationship with God through Jesus Christ.