Anyone who would like a detailed overview of our faith should take a look at the Rechenschaft vom Glauben– the shared creed of all German-speaking Baptists.
For those looking for something a bit shorter, here is a summary of some important points:
We believe that Jesus Christ is the centre of our faith and the Bible its foundation.
We as Baptists believe that every person should be able to freely choose and live out their faith. That is why we practice believer’s baptism. Anyone who has a personal faith relationship with Christ and wants to consciously live their daily life with God as part of the church community can be baptized and become a member of our churches.
We baptize by immersion, as the early Christians did. In this way, the event of baptism is a bodily experience: the individual being baptized falls back into the love of God and experiences forgiveness and renewal, before leaving the water as a “new person in Christ”.
Those who make such a decision become part of the local church – the community of believers. The local church congegrations are not subordinate to any overarching church hierarchy and are financed by voluntary donations. We practice the priesthood of all believers, which means that each Christian as part of the church may serve communion, bless, speak forgiveness, or preach according to their ability. Nevertheless, we highly value good theological training for our pastors. All roles of office-bearer in the church community are equal and accessible to all. The highest decision-making body in the church is the General Assembly.
In common with all Christians, we confess the Apostles’ Creed and as a Church of the Reformation we share many principles with the other Protestant churches.
