Being with jesus
learning from jesus
becoming like jesus
Counterslip Baptist Church is a group of people based in the south of Bristol who together are working out what it means to be disciples of Jesus, as revealed in the scriptures, at this point in history, right here where we live, work, love, strive, succeed, fail, celebrate, commiserate, mourn, laugh, cry.... and so on. We believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and we believe that by His Spirit, and through His word, we can know Him and walk with Him today. As a community we seek to encourage each other to do just that in all the areas of our lives, in each and every moment.
About us
Our Team
Our team is made up of a number of different paid and volunteer roles, of pastors, elders, deacons, administrators and team/ministry leaders all of whom serve our church family to live out our vision.
Our
HiStory
In 1804 there were just two Baptist churches in Bristol, Broadmead Baptist & the Pithay. In this year, probably because of differences in theology the Pithay had started to decline in number. 49 of those who left planted their own church on 12th November. In 1810 the new church had grown and moved from Taylors Court to Counter Slip (a road just off of Bristol Bridge). The church continued to grow and in 1878 they moved to Victoria street where they built a chapel and a school room. In the 1930s new suburbs of Bristol were being built and the population was increasing there. So Counterslip began to look for a site in the south to continue its work across Bristol, and it acquired the site where we currently meet today. After the war, and the bombing of the chapel on Victoria street, the church decided rather than rebuild in town they would move the whole church to the new site.
Baptists
SO WE'RE A BAPTIST CHURCH. BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
THE BAPTIST CHURCH STORY GOES BACK TO ABOUT 1609 WHEN A GROUP OF CHRISTIANS LEFT THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND FOLLOWING THE REFORMATION, AS THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE THE REFORMATION IN THE ANGLICAN CHURCH HAD GONE FAR ENOUGH.
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BAPTIST'S GOT THEIR NAME BECAUSE THEY BAPTISTED ADULT BELIEVERS, RATHER THAN CHRISTENING BABIES. BUT THIS ISN'T WHAT DEFINES BAPTISTS. "BAPTISTS" WAS MORE OF A NICKNAME BECAUSE OF THE TYPE OF BAPTISM THEY DID. THE REASON THEY DID THAT KIND OF BAPTISM IS AT THE HEART OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A BAPTIST.
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AT THE ROOT OF THEIR ACTIONS WAS A DEEP DESIRE TO LIVE LIFE IN LINE WITH THE SCRIPTURES.
BAPTISTS BELIEVED, AND STILL DO TODAY, IN THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE AND SEE THE BIBLE AS THE WORD OF GOD. YES IT WAS WRITTEN BY HUMAN BEINGS, BUT IT WAS WRITTEN UNDER THE INSPIRATION, GUIDANCE AND POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO IS GOD, A PART OF THE HOLY TRINITY.
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JESUS HIMSELF AFFIRMED THE SCRIPTURES, AND DESPITE WHAT YOU MIGHT HEAR IN MODERN CONVERSATION HE NEVER DISAGREED WITH THEM OR CHANGED THEM - THAT IS A MISCONCEPTION AND MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE TEXT. JESUS WENT EVEN FURTHER THAN THIS AND TOLD THE DISCIPLES THAT ALL THE SCRIPTURES WERE ABOUT HIM (LUKE 24:25-27). AND THIS IS WHY WE HAVE SUCH A HIGH VIEW OF JESUS, BECAUSE OF JUST HOW INCREDIBLE WE BELIEVE HE IS AS HE IS REVEALED IN ALL THE SCRIPTURES (OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT).
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THE BIBLE FROM BEGINNING TO END POINTS US TO JESUS. THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES WE DISCOVER WHO JESUS IS, WHAT HE IS LIKE, WHAT HE CAME TO DO AND THE LIFE HE CAME TO GIVE US. WHAT WE DISCOVER IN THE SCRIPTURES IS NOTHING SHORT OF AMAZING. THAT IS WHY AS BAPTISTS WE LONG TO LIVE IN LINE WITH THE SCRIPTURES.
AND BECAUSE THE FOCUS OF THE WHOLE OF SCRIPTURE IS JESUS, OUR VISION AS A CHURCH IS:
TO BE WITH JESUS, LEARN FROM JESUS, AND BECOME LIKE JESUS.
AND THE PLACE WE DISCOVER AND UNDERSTAND JESUS FIRST AND FOREMOST IS IN THE HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRED SCRIPTURES, LIKE HE HIMSELF SHOWED HIS DISCIPLES.
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AS BAPTISTS WE HAVE SOME STRANGE HABITS - DUNKING PEOPLE UNDER WATER AND CHURCH MEETINGS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, BUT AT THE HEART OF ALL OF THESE THINGS, AND THE REASON FOR ALL OF THESE THINGS, IS OUR DEEP DESIRE TO LIVE IN LINE WITH SCRIPTURE. WHATEVER WE FACE IN LIFE OUR PATTERN IS TO FIRST GO TO THE SCRIPTURES AND SEEK OUR GOD AS HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF THROUGH HIS WORD.
THAT IS WHAT BEING A BAPTIST CHURCH IS ALL ABOUT.
AS A CHURCH WE ARE CONNECTED WITH THE FOLLOWING GROUPS AND ORGANISATIONS
