We are, first and foremost, a local gathering of followers of Jesus, coming together regularly to worship him.

In addition to this we are a member congregation of the Free Church of Scotland. Which in turn means that we are Reformed, Confessional and Presbyterian.

To be Reformed means that we trace our roots back to the Reformation movements of the 16th century, which led to the formation of the Protestant church and the insistence on justification by faith alone. In particular the Free Church, as with similar denominations, grew out of the Scottish Reformation.

Confessional means that we recognise certain documents – in our case the Westminster Confession of Faith – to be a sound summary of what we believe about the Bible. Members of the church are not required to sign up to everything the confession teaches, but office bearers are, and the teaching from our pulpits should be compatible with the confession. The confession is a subordinate standard, which simply means that it is not held to be infallible and does not carry the same weight as the Bible.

Presbyterian relates to a form of church government, common among many of the churches born out of the Scottish Reformation. It means governance by Elders, through a series of ‘courts’. The local Elders in a congregation form the Kirk Session. Kirk Sessions within a Geographic region will send representative Elders to Presbytery, and in turn Prebyteries send representatives to the General Assembly, which makes decisions for the wider denomination. There are no ‘ranks’ within the Eldership and ministers are also counted as Elders, albeit ones with a particular calling to teach, preach and administer the Sacraments.

What Do We Believe?

We believe that The Bible in its original manuscripts is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, through which he reveals himself and his plan of Salvation.

We believe that there is only one God, but that this one God is also three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each distinct but all equally God. This is known as the Trinity

We believe that Jesus Christ is both fully God (God the Son) and fully human. We believe he is God’s ultimate self-revelation, having taken on humanity and lived on earth as a man. We believe he died on the cross to pay the price for our sins, and rose again to show the price was paid. We believe that at some future point in time he will return in glory.

We believe that all of us are guilty of sin, failing to live as we should and failing to acknowledge God as we should. We believe that this creates a barrier between humanity and God which we cannot breach on our own.

We believe that Salvation is only available through faith in Jesus Christ, and that no works of our own can contribute.

We believe in the resurrection of the dead, when Jesus returns, with those who trust in him going on to live eternally with him in the new heavens and new earth.