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What We Believe

Our Mission & Core Values

First Church is a community of faith that is rooted and grounded in God’s love for all people.  Affirming the teachings of Jesus Christ, we seek to provide a caring and open environment where diversity is welcome and all are respected as children of God. We support and encourage one another to live our faith through service to others.

SANCTUARY 

We aim to be a safe place where we can step away from the chaos of the everyday and receive comfort through worship and prayer. We aim to be a caring and inclusive congregation that fosters fellowship and mutual support among its members. 

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Sanctuary

We aim to be a safe place where we can step away from the chaos of the everyday and receive comfort through worship and prayer. We aim to be a caring and inclusive congregation that fosters fellowship and mutual support amongst its members.

Theological Rationale:

From the earliest days of the church, the good news of Jesus was shared not only in synagogues and temples but around kitchen tables, in courtyards, and on roadsides. Meals were shared, stories were told, and prayers were offered in settings that welcomed the young and old, the wealthy and poor, women and men, the insider and the stranger. The gospel spread through relationships, and the transformation of the heart followed from being welcomed into the presence of Christ’s love.

Sanctuary, then, is not simply a physical space but a spiritual practice: a community where barriers of division, injustice, and fear are dismantled by safety, mutual accountability, trust, and the Spirit’s work among us.

To live into this call, we commit to:

  1. Creating spaces of refuge and belonging for all people, especially those historically silenced or excluded.
  2. Practicing education, dialogue, and shared experiences that deepen our understanding of one another.
  3. Establishing clear and transparent processes of care and accountability that honor the dignity of every person.

In Christ, sanctuary is both gift and calling: a holy refuge where we encounter God’s presence together, and from which we are sent to extend that same welcome into the world.

Bible References:

(Matthew 11.28-30; Zechairah 9.12, Luke 19.1-10)

ROOTED

We want to bear fruit where we've been planted, creating connections with our neighbors and community partners. 

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Rooted

We want to bear fruit where we’ve been planted, creating connections with our neighbors and community partners.

Theological Rationale:

Theological Rationale: Scripture teaches us that faith is not an abstract idea but a lived reality planted in real soil. When God’s people were carried into exile, they were instructed not to withdraw but to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” where they dwelled (Jeremiah 29:7). To be rooted in a place is to embrace God’s mission for that community—to labor for its flourishing spiritually, socially, and economically.

Jesus describes discipleship as abiding in him like branches connected to the vine, bearing fruit that lasts (John 15:5, 16). This fruitfulness is not for ourselves alone but for the blessing of others. When we are rooted in Christ and rooted in our city, we become participants in God’s work of renewal and justice.

Our rootedness in New Britain means partnering with local organizations, schools, businesses, and neighbors in ways that promote equity, dignity, and thriving. It means offering our presence, resources, and prayers not as outsiders but as invested members of this city.

To live into this call, we commit to:

  1. Building partnerships that promote the flourishing of New Britain and surrounding communities in spiritual, cultural, relational, and economic life.
  2. Offering service-learning opportunities that connect faith with public life.
  3. Bearing witness to Christ by working for equity, peace, and justice in our neighborhood.

Bible References:

(Jeremiah 29.7; John 15.5, 16; Micah 6.8; Matthew 5.14–16)

DIVERSE

We celebrate the unique attributes and privileges given to all of Creation. We will recognize and support the diversity in our city and the surrounding community. 

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Diverse

We celebrate the unique attributes and privileges given to all of Creation. We will recognize and support the diversity in our city and the surrounding community.

Theological Rationale:

From the very beginning, God created humanity in God’s own image (Genesis 1:27–28), blessing the world with infinite expressions of identity, culture, and story. Diversity is not an accident of creation but part of its goodness. The psalmist reminds us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), crafted with intention and purpose.

Through Christ, barriers of division are torn down. In Christ there is “no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female” (Galatians 3:28). Yet unity does not mean sameness—it means the Spirit gathers us as one body, with many members, each indispensable to the whole (1 Corinthians 12). Jesus’ prayer in John 17 asks that his followers “may all be one,” not by erasing difference but by holding diversity together in love.

In New Britain—where many languages are spoken, cultures are celebrated, and histories intersect—we see diversity as both a gift and a calling. To be the church here is to practice the holy work of being together without demanding uniformity. Revelation envisions a great multitude from every tribe, language, and nation worshiping God with their unique expressions (Revelation 7:9)—and we long to live that reality here and now.

To live into this call, we commit to:

  1. Creating spaces where differences are named, honored, and celebrated as sacred
  2. Celebrating different cultures, generations, and life experiences.
  3. Challenging systems and habits that silence or marginalize voices in our community

Bible References:

(Genesis 1.27-28; Psalm 139.13-16; John 17.21-23; 1 Corinthians 12; Galatians 3.28; Ephesians 4.3; Revelation 5.9, 7.9)

HOSPITALITY

We believe there’s a seat here just for you! All who come through our doors—no matter where you are on life’s journey—should feel welcome, valued, and appreciated. 

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Hospitality

We believe there’s a seat here just for you! All who come through our doors—no matter where you are on life’s journey—should feel welcome, valued, and appreciated.

Theological Rationale:

Hospitality is not an optional courtesy in the life of faith—it is central to who we are as God’s people. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God commands Israel to welcome the stranger, “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34). Hospitality is both remembrance and practice: remembering God’s care for us, and extending that same care to others.

Jesus deepened this call by teaching us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31) and by embodying that love at every table he entered. He welcomed tax collectors, sinners, children, and outcasts, showing that the kingdom of God is revealed when no one is left outside. Even more, Jesus identified himself with the stranger: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35).

The early church continued this pattern, breaking bread together and extending welcome beyond cultural and social boundaries (Acts 2:42–47). To practice hospitality, then, is to reflect the very character of God, who opens wide the doors of grace.

In our congregation, we believe hospitality is more than a friendly greeting—it is the radical commitment to make space, to share life, and to embody God’s welcome in word and action.

To live into this call, we commit to:

  1. Creating worship and fellowship spaces where everyone feels they belong.
  2. Practicing radical welcome that recognizes and affirms the dignity of each person.
  3. Extending hospitality beyond our walls into the city, so that our welcome becomes a public witness to God’s love.

Bible References:

(Leviticus 19.34; Deuteronomy 10.19; Matthew 25.35; Mark 12.31; Luke 14.12–14; Acts 2.42–47; Hebrews 13.2)

FUN

We aim to be a ‘third place’ in the City. A place other than home (first place) and work (second place) to gather to share laughter and good times, leaving us with a sense of excitement to return.

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Fun

We aim to be a ‘third place’ in the City. A place other than home (first place) and work (second place) to gather to share laughter and good times, leaving us with a sense of excitement to return.

Theological Rationale:

God created us not only for survival, but for flourishing. Joy is not a luxury of the Christian life; it is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and a sign of God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Throughout Scripture, community is marked not just by lament and perseverance but by celebration and delight. Festivals were commanded in Israel’s life (Deuteronomy 16), and Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding feast (John 2)—a reminder that joy, laughter, and festivity are holy and life-giving.

The early church “ate their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:46), showing that fellowship is strengthened as much by shared joy as by shared struggle. In a world that often isolates, exhausts, or burdens, creating a place where playfulness, humor, and lightheartedness are honored is itself a witness to the abundant life Christ promised (John 10:10).

To live into this call, we commit to:

  1. Hosting gatherings that center laughter, delight, and intergenerational play.
  2. Creating rhythms of celebration that balance the hard work of discipleship with the joy of God’s presence.
  3. Encouraging creativity, friendship, and rest as essential practices of Christian life.

Bible References:

(John 10.10; Acts 2.42-47; Galatians 5.22; John 2.1–11; Deuteronomy 16.14–15)

Our Statement of Faith

God the Eternal Spirit

We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, who is made known to us in Jesus our brother. God calls the worlds into being, creates humankind in the divine image, and sets before us the ways of life and death. God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin, and judges all humanity and nations by that will of righteousness declared through prophets and apostles.

Jesus Christ Our Lord

We believe that in Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death, and reconciling the whole creation to its Creator.

The Holy Spirit & the Church

We believe that God bestows upon us the Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.

The Call to Discipleship

We believe that God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the service of the whole human family, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ's baptism and eat at his table, and to join him in his passion and victory.

God's Promise

We believe that God promises to all who trust in the gospel forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, the presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which has no end.

Blessings and honor, glory and power be unto God. Amen.

You Are Always Welcome at First Church New Britain

No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.

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