our faith & beliefs

The Good News of Jesus Christ is who unites us (Galatians 3:26-28) and who gives us our hope and joy (Romans 15:13). If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, we encourage you to join our next Explaining Christianity course. We run these courses two-three times a year over four consecutive Monday nights. At an Explaining Christianity course, we open the Bible to discover who Jesus is, why he had to come and die on the cross, and what it means for us. View our what’s on page to find out when our next EC course is running and to register.

We are also a Baptist church and belong to the family of Queensland Baptist churches. As a Baptist church, Eastside is elder-led (Titus 2:15, Hebrews 13:17) and congregationally ruled (Acts 1:23, 15:22, 30, 2 Corinthians 8:19), under the authority of Christ and His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We practice the two ordinances that God has instituted: Baptism (Matthew 28:19) and the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:17-20). Since baptism is the public declaration that a person has received God’s grace, we believe God’s Word teaches that baptism is only for people who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins and hope of eternal life (Acts 2:38). You can find out more about the beliefs and practices of Queensland Baptist churches here.

We have an Affirmation of our Faith document (Statement of Faith) that outlines the primary beliefs of our faith.

eastside community church constitution

At Eastside we are fundamentally governed by God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and believe it is the supreme standard by which all human conduct and opinions should be tried. While we are fundamentally governed by the Bible, there are other documents that help us in the day-to-day governance of operating a church. We recognise that these documents are not on equal footing with the Bible; that is, they do not hold the same authority in our life as the Bible, however, we do think there are important documents that serve important purposes.

Our church constitution helps us fellowship and make decisions together that reflect the will of God and not the interests of individuals. The Bible also teaches us how the church is to be organised and governed, and much of our church constitution addresses the Bible’s teaching on that topic. More specifically, our church constitution outlines some of our church’s necessary and practical operations.

God’s Word expects that all Christians are committed members of a local church where they covenant together in shared bonds of mutual accountability (John 17:22-23, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Ephesians 2:19-22, Philippians 2:1-11). Becoming a member of the local church is a living commitment that expresses a love for the Lord Jesus, and a desire to seek the good of the local church over self-interest. Every person who becomes a member of Eastside Community Church makes a commitment to watch over and care for other members, and it is a commitment to be watched over and cared for by other members. Our membership covenant outlines our expectations of one another and how we live together as a church.

positional papers on theological matters

Below are a series of papers written by our eldership and accepted by our congregation outlining our positions on a number of theological matters that fall under the characteristic doctrinal beliefs that we hold as a church – that is, beliefs that characterise us at Eastside Community Church. If you have any questions about these positional papers or any other questions regarding our beliefs please contact us.