Hello and a warm welcome to Redeemer Fellowship, a church in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It’s a joy to have you here, and we hope this article provides a clear sense of who we are, what we believe, and what you can expect when you join us.
We’re a community that seeks to center our lives on the teachings of the Bible, finding our identity and purpose in Jesus Christ. Our goal is to grow together in faith, support one another, and serve our city.
Whether you’re a lifelong resident of Port Elizabeth or new to the area, we invite you to explore our community. We are passionate about the Bible’s message and its power to change lives. We hope you’ll find a place to connect, grow, and serve with us.
Our Purpose
Redeemer Fellowship is a community united by a clear purpose. We’ve defined our mission in three parts: to worship God, to help one another grow into Christ-like maturity, and to share the gospel with the lost. This purpose is not just an ideal; it’s the foundation of everything we do.
Our worship services are designed to honor God, focusing on biblical teaching, prayer, and singing. We believe that true worship is a response to who God is and what He has done for us. It’s an opportunity to come together as a community and express our love and gratitude to Him.
We are also committed to helping one another grow in faith. This happens through intentional teaching, discipleship, and building a community where we can love and support one another. We believe that spiritual growth isn’t a solitary journey but something we do together, encouraging and challenging each other along the way.
Finally, we feel a deep responsibility to share the good news of Jesus Christ. This means being a light in our community and supporting missionaries who take this message to other parts of the world. Our hope is that everyone, everywhere, will have the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.
Our Ministries
At Redeemer Fellowship, we have various ministries dedicated to fostering a spiritually enriching community. We want to ensure that everyone, from those exploring Christianity to those who have been believers for years, finds a place to belong. Our ministries are the practical expression of our mission, and they all work together to help us grow in faith and serve God.
- Worship and Discipleship: We prioritize gathering for worship and learning from the Bible. These are central to our life as a church.
- Outreach: We are actively involved in our local community, looking for ways to serve and share the love of Christ.
- Caring: We believe in caring for one another, offering support and encouragement in times of need.
These ministries are designed to reflect the timeless teachings of the Bible and the rich traditions of the Christian faith. We aim to fulfill our calling as followers of Christ by engaging in mutual spiritual growth and serving the community, all guided by the principles of grace, love, and fellowship.
Our Leadership
Redeemer Fellowship is led by a team who serves the congregation with humility and integrity. The Bible gives us clear instructions for leadership, and we strive to follow them carefully.
The role of an elder is to guide and shepherd the church. This involves teaching the Bible, providing spiritual oversight, and setting an example of godly living. We believe that elders are to serve willingly and humbly, focusing on the needs of the congregation rather than seeking power or control. This is highlighted in passages like Titus 1:5, 1 Timothy 3:1-13, and 1 Peter 5:1-4.
Deacons are called to serve the church with integrity and sincerity. Their role is to assist the elders by taking on practical duties and tasks. This allows the elders to focus on the ministry of prayer and the Word. The qualifications for deacons are also found in 1 Timothy 3:8-13, and their service is vital to the health and functioning of our church. We are grateful for our leaders and pray for their faithful service as they guide and nurture our community.
Our Statement of Faith
Our beliefs are rooted in the historic Christian faith, and our Statement of Faith provides a detailed summary of what we hold to be true. This statement is foundational to our identity as a church, and we believe it is consistent with the teachings of the Bible. The following sections provide a high-level overview of these core beliefs.
The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Bible is God’s written revelation to humanity. It consists of 66 books, all given to us by the Holy Spirit. We teach that the Bible is inspired by God, inerrant in its original form, and is our only infallible rule for faith and practice. We interpret Scripture using a literal, grammatical-historical method, which means we seek to understand the plain meaning of the text in its original context. This approach affirms our belief that the creation account in Genesis refers to six literal days. We see the Bible as a complete and final authority on all matters of life and faith.
God
We believe in one living and true God, an infinite, all-knowing Spirit, who exists eternally in three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity is equally deserving of worship and obedience.
- God the Father: He orders and disposes all things according to His purpose and grace. He is the Creator of all things and is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption. While He is the Father to all humanity as their Creator, He is the spiritual Father only to those who have a saving relationship with Him. He has chosen from eternity past those who would be His own and saves all who come to Him.
- God the Son: Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity. He is co-equal, co-substantial, and co-eternal with the Father. Through Him, God created and sustains all things. In His incarnation, Jesus became a man without surrendering His divine nature. He was virgin-born and lived a perfect, sinless life. He accomplished our redemption through His sacrificial death on the cross, which was a voluntary, vicarious, substitutionary, and redemptive act. His bodily resurrection from the dead confirms His deity and guarantees future resurrection for all believers. He has now ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He serves as our Advocate and High Priest. We believe He will return to receive the church and establish His millennial kingdom on earth.
- God the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is a divine person, possessing all the attributes of deity. He is co-equal and co-substantial with the Father and the Son. His work began at Pentecost, when He came to initiate and complete the building of the body of Christ. He convicts the world of sin, glorifies Jesus Christ, and transforms believers into His image. He indwells, sanctifies, instructs, and empowers all believers for service from the moment of their salvation. He also administers spiritual gifts to the church for its edification, though we believe that miraculous, revelatory gifts like speaking in tongues and sign miracles were temporary, used to authenticate the apostles’ message and are no longer characteristic of the lives of believers today. We pray for the sick and believe God hears and answers those prayers according to His perfect will.
Man
We believe that humanity was directly created by God in His image and likeness. Man was created without sin, with a rational nature and moral responsibility to God. God’s intention was for man to glorify Him, enjoy fellowship with Him, and live in His will. However, through Adam’s sin of disobedience, humanity lost its innocence, became subject to spiritual and physical death, and inherited a corrupted nature. As a result, all people are sinners by nature and are utterly incapable of pleasing God on their own. Man’s salvation is entirely of God’s grace through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
We also affirm God’s design for marriage as a heterosexual relationship between a natural man and a natural woman, symbolizing the relationship between Christ and the church.
Salvation
We believe that salvation is a gift from God, received by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ, not by human merit or works. It is the result of His shed blood and redemptive work.
- Election: Before the foundation of the world, God chose in Christ those He would graciously save. This sovereign election does not negate man’s responsibility to repent and trust Christ as Savior and Lord. All whom the Father calls will come to Him in faith.
- Regeneration: This is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, giving the repentant sinner a new, divine nature. This is an instantaneous act accomplished by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. Genuine regeneration is evidenced by a life of righteous attitudes and conduct.
- Justification: This is an act of God where He declares righteous those who, through faith in Christ, repent of their sins. This righteousness is not based on our works but on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us.
- Sanctification: Every believer is positionally sanctified (set apart) unto God at the moment of salvation. This is our standing before God. There is also a progressive sanctification, where the Holy Spirit works to bring the believer’s life into closer conformity with Christ. This is a daily conflict between the new creation and the flesh, and while we are never fully free from sin in this life, the Holy Spirit provides the power for victory over it.
- Security: All who are saved are kept by God’s power and are secure in Christ forever. This assurance is a privilege for believers, though it does not give us an excuse for sinful living.
- Separation: We are called to separate ourselves from sin, worldly practices, and religious apostasy. Out of gratitude for God’s grace, we should live in a way that honors Him and does not bring reproach upon our Lord and Savior.
The Church
The church is a unique spiritual body composed of all born-again believers in this present age. It is the bride of Christ, and He is its head. We believe the church began on the Day of Pentecost and will be completed at the Rapture.
We teach that local churches are clearly taught in the New Testament, and believers are instructed to assemble together in these local bodies. Christ is the supreme authority for the church, and its leadership and practices are appointed through His sovereignty as found in Scripture. The biblically designated officers are elders and deacons, both of whom must meet the qualifications outlined in the New Testament.
The purpose of the church is to glorify God by building itself up in the faith, by instruction from the Word, through fellowship, by observing the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and by advancing the gospel to the world.
- Baptism: We practice Christian baptism by immersion. It is a public testimony of a believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and their identification with Him in death to sin and resurrection to new life.
- The Lord’s Supper: This ordinance is a commemoration of Christ’s death until He returns. It should always be preceded by solemn self-examination. While the elements are symbolic, we believe it is a genuine communion with the risen Christ.
The End Times
Our beliefs about the end times, or eschatology, are a significant part of our faith. We look forward to Christ’s return and the culmination of His redemptive plan.
- Death: When a believer dies, their soul immediately passes into the presence of Christ. This separation of soul and body continues until the Rapture, when our soul and body will be reunited and glorified forever. For the unsaved, their souls are kept under punishment until the second resurrection, when they will be judged and cast into the lake of fire.
- The Rapture: We believe in the personal, bodily return of Jesus Christ before a seven-year tribulation period. At this time, He will take His church from the earth.
- The Tribulation Period: This is a future time of God’s righteous judgments being poured out upon an unbelieving world. It will be climaxed by Christ’s glorious return to earth.
- The Second Coming and Millennial Reign: After the tribulation, Christ will return to earth to establish His messianic kingdom for a thousand years. This will be a time of harmony, justice, peace, and righteousness, and it will fulfill God’s promises to Israel.
- The Judgment of the Lost: Following the thousand-year reign, Satan will be released, defeated, and thrown into the lake of fire. Christ will then judge the unsaved at the Great White Throne Judgment, where they will be committed to eternal, conscious punishment in the lake of fire.
- Eternity: After the final judgment, the saved will enter the eternal state of glory with God. A new heaven and a new earth will be created, and the heavenly city will be the dwelling place of the saints, where they will enjoy fellowship with God forever.
Our Constitution
Our constitution provides the framework for how we operate as a church. It is a document that guides our practices and policies, always under the final authority of the Bible. Here are some key aspects of our constitution:
Membership
Membership at Redeemer Fellowship is open to all who make a credible confession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, have been baptized, and show evidence of a new life in Christ. It’s a commitment to our community and our shared mission.
Our members are responsible for protecting the church’s unity, sharing in its responsibilities, serving in its ministries, and supporting its testimony through faithful attendance and godly living. We also have a process for church discipline, which is a loving and biblical way to address sin within the community, with the goal of repentance and restoration.
Governance
The church is governed by a council of elders. All the church’s affairs are exercised by or under their direction. This includes overseeing the church’s purpose, policies, personnel, and purity. Our elders lead as servants of Christ, and the congregation is called to submit to their leadership.
We also have deacons, who are spiritually qualified men who assist the elders with practical duties. They do not share in the oversight of the congregation but are essential to the smooth functioning of the church.
We believe in the autonomy of the local church, free from external authority or control. However, we do cooperate with other true churches for the presentation and propagation of the faith.
Pastor-Teacher
Our Pastor-Teacher, who is an elder, is selected by the elders and affirmed by the members. He is responsible for the general oversight of the church’s spiritual welfare, especially through his teaching ministry.
A Community You Can Join
We understand that finding a church home is a significant decision. We invite you to join us for a service and experience our community firsthand. We believe that we are not a building, but a body of believers united by our shared faith in Jesus Christ.
We would be honored to have you become part of our story here in Port Elizabeth. Come as you are, with your questions, doubts, and hopes. We are here to learn and grow together, supporting each other as we seek to follow Christ and make His name known. We look forward to meeting you.