What’s in a name?
So you may know us by the name of Bethel Evangelical Church Ripon, although we now go more frequently by the name of simply “Bethel”, or “Bethel Church”. Not because there is anything wrong with the full title, or the word “Evangelical”, it can just be a bit of a mouthful and unfortunately isn’t that well understood in today’s society. Well, if you have any questions, hopefully we can answer them below…
Bethel
This means “The house of God.” And that is what we want to be, a place where God is clearly present, in our life’s, our action’s and in everything we do. Please do not confuse us with Bethel megachurch from California with whom there are no connections.
Evangelical
This word “Evangelical” immediately stirs a vast array of definitions and thoughts in the reader’s minds from fundamentals to an unknown quantity (part of the reason we are using it less). At the core we believe the word Evangelical describes an organisation that:
As with the root of the word, the “good news” of Jesus is at the centre of all we do.
The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, that he died and rose again taking the punishment for our sin.
Salvation is entirely a work of God’s grace and cannot be earned or deserved. All who believe in Christ are justified by faith alone, adopted into the family of God and receive eternal life.
The Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory. At which point we will also face judgement where He will welcome us home to Heaven or condemn us to hell.
Every word was inspired by God through human authors, so that the Bible as originally given is in its entirety the Word of God, without error and fully reliable. The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and practice.
So someone who is described as an evangelical Christian is simply someone who believes that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. That no one can come to the Father except through Him.
Church
Well it’s not the building, as nice as our’s is, particularly after the (not so recent now) extension. The Church refers to us, the group of people who meet together through various activities across the week to sing, pray, listen to a talk or to discuss what it says in the bible and socialise as we seek to follow our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ and grow together in faith, hope and love.
Ripon
Ripon, North Yorkshire. The fourth smallest city in the UK that we all know so well and love. Well this is where we live (and the surrounding villages), meet together and hopefully a city we are able to serve, taking the good news of Jesus Christ to all that willing to hear.