Our beliefs

Oak Hill College is protestant and evangelical and holds to be of first importance the fundamental truths of Christianity revealed in Scripture, including those confirmed by the church’s historic catholic creeds, and the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion of the Church of England.

In addition we have a Basis of Faith, Ethos and Practice which have been adopted from the Evangelical Alliance of which we are members.

What we believe

(a) The one true God who lives eternally in three persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

(b) The love, grace and sovereignty of God in creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming and judging the world.

(c) 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.

(d) 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.

(e) The incarnation of God’s eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ – born of the virgin Mary; truly divine and truly human, yet without sin.

(f) 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.

(g) 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.

(h) The justification of sinners solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ.

(i) 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.

(j) 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.

(k) 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.

How we live

As college, we are committed to establishing and maintaining a distinctive evangelical ethos and practice.

The Ethos and Practice of Oak Hill College stems primarily from our Basis of Faith and should be read alongside that. It also recognises the need to be consistent with the purposes and patterns of behaviour which accord with an orthodox and historic understanding of the ethical implications of the evangelical Christian faith. In light of this, we affirm… 

1. The sovereignty of the one true God, who is to be honoured, obeyed and glorified. We express our love for God regularly in loving others, in worship and in prayer both personally and corporately (Psalm 95:6; Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 1:15-20; 1 John 4:19-21). 

2. The inspiration, authority and truth of the Bible which is to be engaged with regularly and which guides our life and work (Psalm 119; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:17-19; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). 

3. The necessity of personal repentance and faith, and of bearing witness to Christ in word and deed. We are to actively share the gospel and generously serve those in need (Matthew 25:35-36, 28:16-20; Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:15). 

4. That new birth means we belong to God, that our true identity is found “in Christ” and that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. We recognise that we all fall short of God’s standard, the need for God’s grace and forgiveness, and the ongoing and empowering work of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:10, 3:14-19; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Peter 2:9). 

5. The value and importance for the Christian life of participation in the local church. We frame local participation within the context of the church universal (Romans 12:3-21; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Peter 4:10-11).

6. The value and importance of prayer and discipleship. Through our whole-life discipleship, we affirm the value and importance of seeking to follow Jesus’ example, obeying His teachings, and dedicating our lives to the purposes of God, to see His will done and His kingdom come. Through our prayers, we recognise our dependence on God and our need to listen to the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:16-20; John 8:31- 38; Ephesians 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:2). 

7. That human beings are fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image and that our choices and actions are informed by a reverence for human life. That God loves and cares for all people in their physical, cultural and ethnic diversity. That the Bible calls us to love everyone and treat them with dignity, mercy, compassion, kindness, humility and justice (Genesis 12:3; Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 16:19, 24:17; Psalm 139:13-16; Amos 5:24; Micah 6:8; John 15:12). 

8. That our bodies are created by God, and following Jesus, we will share in a bodily resurrection. God created male and female, and our bodies are essential to our nature and intrinsic to our identity. Both male and female have equal value, are made to glorify God and together reflect His image (Genesis 1:27, 2:23; Ephesians 5:21-33; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 15:35-58). 

9. The value and importance of friendship, family and marriage. As Christians, we are friends of Jesus and children of God. As modelled by Jesus, outside of marriage God intends for people to live a single, chaste life. Marriage is a witness to the eternal love of Christ for His church and is intended to be a faithful, self-sacrificial and life-long covenant between one man and one woman, and is the place approved by God for sexual relations (Genesis 2:20-24; Malachi 2:13-16; Matthew 19:1-12; John 15:12-17; Romans 8:14-17; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 7:8-16; Ephesians 5:21-27; Revelation 19:6-7, 21:1-2). 

10. The value and importance of choices and actions that are informed by love for, and a concern to look after, the good creation that God has made and entrusted to us. In Christ, God is reconciling all things, on earth and in heaven, to Himself (Genesis 2:15; Psalm 8; Colossians 1:19-20; Revelation 21:1-2).