What we believe
Tunbridge Wells Presbyterian Church upholds the Westminster Standards - the Westminster Confession with the Shorter and Larger Catechisms. The ESV Bible with Creeds and Confessions explains:
'The Westminster Confession of Faith was written in 1646 by a gathering of pastor-theologians. They met in Westminster Abbey during England’s bloodiest civil war, and it is from the name of the abbey (or from the English Parliament, meeting in the city of Westminster) that the confession derives its name. From the perspective of most Reformed Christians, England’s Reformation had been left incomplete by Queen Elizabeth ... The Westminster Confession of Faith became the dominant confession of Reformed Christianity. Terms and phrases found in the Confession almost immediately became the preferred parlance of English-speaking Reformed churches, and when Congregationalists, Baptists, and Methodists wished to create confessional or catechetical texts of their own, they often resorted to revising and reissuing works produced by the Westminster Assembly.​'
The Bible truths we cherish are summarised in the Westminster Confession. This can be read in full here and presents a rich vision of God:
'God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them.' WCF 2,2.
Our church values and focuses our ministry on the means of grace which God uses to save and grow his people- as urged by the Westminster Confession:​
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'The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear; the sound preaching, and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God with understanding, faith, and reverence; singing of psalms with grace in the heart; as, also, the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ; are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God.' WCF 21,5.
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A Presbyterian Church is led by Jesus Christ, who exerts his reign of grace in his people's lives through elders and deacons. Our team of elders and deacons have different gifts and roles, but work together to serve the Church. As the Westminster Confession says:
'The Lord Jesus, as king and head of His church, hath therein appointed a government in the hand of church officers.' WCF 30,1.
Don't worry if you are not familiar with the details of the Westminster Standards - we have multiple opportunities to engage with the statements of faith which have proven an encouragement to so many Christians down the centuries. In morning services recently we read through the Shorter Catechism week by week. Many valued the famous opening question:
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.