Mitcham Lane Baptist Church

Who we are

At Mitcham Lane Baptist Church, we are ordinary people who come together to worship an extraordinary God. Our church family is wonderfully diverse, made up of people from many different backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, and church experiences. What unites us is a shared desire to Love God. Love People. Love Life

Our culture and values

LOVE GOD. LOVE PEOPLE. LOVE LIFE.

LOVE GOD

Identified by Jesus as the most important commandment, our number one priority is to 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength' (Mark 12:30). Worshipping God forms the basis of our shared life together.

In loving God we aspire to live a life of worship, lives that continually honour him and which are distinctive and holy. We want to grow in faith, encouraging each other on our respective spiritual journeys, holding God's values in our hearts and minds and speaking the truth in love to a fallen world.

LOVE PEOPLE

The second most important commandment follows on from the first: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' (Mark 12:31) Jesus both commands and challenges us to love each other so that 'all people will know that you are my disciples' (John 13:35) with the same kind of sacrificial love that Jesus demonstrated to us when he went to the cross. We want this to be modelled by the way we shape our community and in the relationships we have with each other. Like Jesus, we welcome everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, social status, gender, sexual orientation, different religious faiths and those with no faith backgrounds.

At MLBC we aspire to be an inclusive community which builds people up. Our God is a creative God, blessing us with different skills, gifts and personalities so we strongly believe in unity and diversity. We want all people regardless of their background or Christian experience to find a place to fit and serve within our community. We want to be serious about relationships and open and honest with each other; real people living in the real world with priorities that flow from a spirit - filled life.

LOVE LIFE 

God designed the blueprint for being human, and, if we follow him faithfully, that is the path to true peace, wholeness and contentment. Jesus said again that 'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full'. (John 10:10). Thus Christians should be known as the people who love life, who know how to be truly human.​

At MLBC we seek to be a community that loves life and lets the joy, peace and contentment which comes from this, radiate out into the community. We desire to be a mission shaped church which blesses the local community and demonstrates the love of God in practical ways as we seek to 'shine like stars' and hold out the 'word of life' (Philippians 2:15-16).

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

As a community we are committed to reflecting on the ways that prejudice, privilege, and power have divided our church and communities, particularly, along the lines of race. We will prayerfully seek where we need to repent on issues both historic and recent, both deliberate, and those that have unintentionally caused harm.

We will not just tolerate difference, but we will actively seek out and celebrate diversity, recognising it as a gift from God and a fuller picture of the body of Christ we are called to be in Furzedown. We will challenge ourselves to practise unity in both our hospitality and in our personal connections with one another.

We recognise the racial diversity of God’s word and Church history, and the role minorities have played in carrying the covenant promises of God through exile and oppression. We will work to represent this story in our art, resources, worship, discipleship and leadership.

We believe that a diverse leadership that reflects the congregation, enhances both our worship and witness, and we will seek to grow inclusive teams across the breadth of our shared life. We will recognise more fully the call and challenges of our brothers and sisters who experience racism in our mission, ministry and leadership.​

We will seek to be a prophetic voice against prejudice in all its forms, as we believe the image of God in every person calls us to action. We will use our voice, our role, and our resources to bring positive change, both inside our organisation and in the wider community.