What we believe, how we make decisions, and membership
Our core belief is that Jesus is the Son of God, and that the Bible and its clear, literal teachings are the final authority for faith and practice.
One peculiarity of a Baptist church is that, unlike many other Christian organisations, it has complete autonomy — no single person or central authority can tell us what to do. A Baptist church may belong to a local Association (in our case, the Yorkshire Baptist Association), but the decisions about how we run our day-to-day business are our own. These are made by us, and us alone, at what we call a Church Members Meeting.
Anyone is welcome — and encouraged — to attend a Church Members’ Meeting. However, when it comes to casting a vote, only Members can do so.
Discussions leading to a vote are usually led by our minister or by a member of our Leadership Team — one of our democratically elected Deacons. Anyone present can join the debate, but to actually cast a vote you need to be a Member. Membership is achieved either by publicly professing your faith and commitment to Christ, or through full immersion in water at a special baptismal service.
At MBC, we consider ourselves a community church — a straightforward, faith-based group of people here for everyone, from young families with children to seniors. Our Sunday service normally lasts just over an hour and is a mix of preaching, prayer and singing, with the first and third Sunday of the month being our Café Church and Communion respectively.
As you’ll see elsewhere on this website, there’s rarely a day that goes by when MBC isn’t hosting or supporting one thing or another. Please call by anytime — you’ll always get a warm welcome.