STATEMENT OF BELIEF
Trinity Church Nottingham is a part of the holy catholic and apostolic church, planted by the Church of England’s diocese of Southwell and Nottingham and a part of the Anglican Communion. We worship the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
As part of the Anglican communion, we believe the faith which is revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds and to which the historic formularies of the Church of England (the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer and the Ordering of Bishops, Priests and Deacons) bear witness, and which the Church is called upon to proclaim afresh in each generation.
HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe the Holy Scriptures (composed of Protestant Old and New Testaments into the Bible) to be both true and authoritative. We believe God divinely inspired their composition, transmission, compilation, and canonisation through the Holy Spirit, and that they are sufficient to reveal the Christian faith - they contain everything necessary and are clearly understandable. We take this Scripture as both a foundational source for and a defining limit on Christian belief and practice.
CATHOLIC CREEDS
We recognise the foundational importance of the catholic creeds in setting forth the faith revealed in the Holy Scriptures. These creeds - the key three of which are available below - are referred to as ‘catholic’. This term derives from the Greek kata and olos - ‘according to’ ‘the whole’. They set forth what ‘all Christians, everywhere, in any age’ have held to be true, having been forged through controversy and whole church councils in the first centuries of the Christian Church’s existence.
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We believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.
On the third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
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I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only-begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate
of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead.
And His kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and
I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
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Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith.
Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic faith:
That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.The Father is immeasurable,
the Son is immeasurable,
the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.The Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit is eternal.And yet there are not three eternal beings;
there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.Similarly, the Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings;
there is but one almighty being.Thus the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods;
there is but one God.Thus the Father is Lord,
the Son is Lord,
the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords;
there is but one Lord.Just as Christian truth compels us
to confess each person individually
as both God and Lord,
so catholic religion forbids us
to say that there are three gods or lords.The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
The Son was neither made nor created;
he was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
he proceeds from the Father and the Son.Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
there is one Son, not three sons;
there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
nothing is greater or smaller;
in their entirety the three persons
are coeternal and coequal with each other.So in everything, as was said earlier,
we must worship their trinity in their unity
and their unity in their trinity.Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.Now this is the true faith:
That we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,
is both God and human, equally.He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.Although he is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
but by God's taking humanity to himself.
He is one,
certainly not by the blending of his essence,
but by the unity of his person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and human.He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father's right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.
HISTORIC FORMULARIES
Trinity Church Nottingham exists because of the Church of England’s diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, and particularly the initiative of Bishop Paul Williams under whom it began as a Bishop’s Mission Order in 2016. We are grateful for our heritage, but at the same time mindful of the distinction made by a previous Bishop of London between the Church of England and the Church in England. We are deeply committed to playing our part in seeing God form a holy people for himself in England, and are praying for God to pour out his Spirit on the institution of the Church of England.
As part of the Anglican Communion, the historic formularies of the Church of England - the 39 Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordering of Priests, Bishops, and Deacons - remain important sources in the shaping of our faith.
39 Articles
You can find the 39 articles here.
From this, we derive much of our protestant and evangelical heritage, and our missional commitment to seeing God’s presence in every place - or as we say it: the Church on fire, the city alive.
Book of Common Prayer
You can find the content of the Book of Common Prayer here.
From this, we derive our emphasis on a shared rule of life and pattern of prayer.
Ordering of Priests, Bishops, and Deacons
You can find the ordination services for priests, bishops, and deacons here in their current form as part of the Church of England’s Common Worship resources.
From this, we derive much of our ecclesiology - our sense of what God calls his church to be - and particularly our understanding of the role of ordained ministers in relation to the body of Christ.
FAQs
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Trinity has a firm belief in the role of women in all levels of leadership. We believe that women and men are equally gifted and qualified to lead and serve as co-laborers in the church. We therefore value and actively champion the presence of both men and women at every level of church leadership.
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At Trinity we use the language of ‘generous orthodoxy’ regarding Human Sexuality. This means that Trinity holds to the historic orthodox position of the Church (which believes sex is for the context of marriage between a man and a woman), however, we seek to create a space where there can be genuine dialogue. We ask our leaders to respect this theological position, which means that while some leaders may hold a different view to this, they don’t seek to undermine Trinity’s teaching or actively promote a different theological perspective either in their teaching or their way of life.
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Charismatic Theology is a key component of our life and practice at Trinity. We believe that being continually filled with the Holy Spirit and operating in the gifts of the Spirit are critical to the mission of the church to usher in God’s Kingdom in the world.