About ARC

Leadership

The church has been holding Sunday services since April 2009, and has been based in Mere Green since September that year. The church became a registered charity in 2011.

Stephen Eaves is the newly appointed Pastor at ARC. He is supported by two ‘elders’, and form a leadership team whose role is to oversee the spiritual wellbeing of the fellowship and to help ensure that the church grows in a way that pleases God and glorifies Jesus. The elders serve alongside a larger group of co-ordinators who have esponsibility for an area of church activities.

Values

The church has adopted the New Wine values, and the following lay the foundation for all we do:

Cross & Resurrection – we want to honour all that Jesus has done for us on the cross, and to embrace the way of the cross for ourselves, while also knowing the power of his resurrection to set us free.
Continuity & Change – we want to be faithful guardians of an unchanging message about the person and work of Jesus, and the need for personal salvation and sanctification, while also adapting ways of worship, teaching, being church and doing mission according to culture and context.
Gracious & Truthful – we want to be kind and generous in the way we think and speak about others whether they agree or disagree with us, while also clearly communicating what we believe and why we believe it.
Leadership & Every-member ministry – we want to train and deploy anointed, courageous and missional church leaders, while also equipping every Christian to serve like Jesus in their home, church, work and life-place.
Mission & Community – we want to see the church become a missionary movement to love and reach the lost, to care for the poor and to bring justice to our homes, neighbourhoods, workplaces and nations, while also being a grace-filled community in which people can find relationship, healing, faith, hope and love.
Natural & Supernatural – we want to see every Christian using all the natural reason, wisdom and skill that they can, while also learning to operate in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit to minister to others in love and power as Jesus did.
Now & Not yet of the Kingdom – we want to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God and to see that confirmed by miraculous signs and wonders, while also ministering grace to all, knowing that suffering will be part of life until Jesus returns and makes all things new.
Transcendence & Presence – we want to live lives that celebrate God’s awesome power, transcendent majesty and sovereign work, while at the same time experiencing his intimate presence as we encounter him in heartfelt worship.
Unity & Diversity – we want to work with everyone who holds these values in open, mutually accountable friendship, while also acknowledging and honouring differences in leadership style, church characteristics and denominational emphasis.
Word & Spirit – we want to derive all we believe, teach and do from the Bible as the written word of God, while also learning to hear and obey the voice of the Spirit speaking to us individually and collectively

Statement of Faith

The church has adopted the Evangelical Alliance statement of faith. We believe in:

The one true God who lives eternally in three persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The love, grace and sovereignty of God in creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming and judging the world.
The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which are the written Word of God—fully trustworthy for faith and conduct.
The dignity of all people, made male and female in God's image to love, be holy and care for creation, yet corrupted by sin, which incurs divine wrath and judgement.
The incarnation of God’s eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—born of the virgin Mary; truly divine and truly human, yet without sin.
The atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross: dying in our place, paying the price of sin and defeating evil, so reconciling us with God.
The bodily resurrection of Christ, the first fruits of our resurrection; his ascension to the Father, and his reign and mediation as the only Saviour of the world.
The justification of sinners solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ.
The ministry of God the Holy Spirit, who leads us to repentance, unites us with Christ through new birth, empowers our discipleship and enables our witness.
The Church, the body of Christ both local and universal, the priesthood of all believers—given life by the Spirit and endowed with the Spirit's gifts to worship God and proclaim the gospel, promoting justice and love.
The personal and visible return of Jesus Christ to fulfil the purposes of God, who will raise all people to judgement, bring eternal life to the redeemed and eternal condemnation to the lost, and establish a new heaven and new earth.

Worship

Here at ARC Community Church, we want our worship to be more than music. Our aim is to use music as a vehicle to draw people closer to God. We want our worship to be relevant and contemporary, enabling intimacy with the Father.

Our services have 25-30 minutes of worship, led by one of several bands. Our small groups also prioritise worship in a smaller, more intimate setting.

Small groups

At ARC Community Church, we are committed to being more than simply a group of people who gather together on a Sunday. Small groups provide the perfect smaller setting to meet with friends, a place of support and encouragement, and a place to know and be known.

All small groups vary, and you are encouraged to try and find one that will suit you. During a typical small group evening you might worship together, pray for each other, and have a time of sharing or teaching. Small groups may also organise days away, blessing the community projects and social activities.

Essentially they are a place where we can belong, receive pastoral care, grow in our faith and have fun. There is a group that meets in Mere Green and another in Wylde Green; you are welcome to try either of them.