Anchor Baptist Church of the Hutt Valley

OUR HISTORY

On May 30, 2004, Rev. Bradley Hastings, a US missionary pastor, came to New Zealand and started home bible study in Hutt Valley. The group grew and on July 4, 2004, Anchor Baptist Church was officially established.

After four years of service, Pastor Hastings was led by the Lord to move to New Mexico, USA to start a mission ministry for the Native Americans. February 24, 2008 was his last Sunday preaching in the church.

The following Sunday, March 2, 2008 Rev. Norman Shannon came and took over as the pastor of the church. Pastor Shannon continued to serve in the ministry until his retirement on October 30, 2016.

In October 2016, The church had ordained Rev. Bobby Nato and he took over as the new pastor. Pastor Nato is now serving as current pastor of the church.

The story of Anchor Baptist church is rather ordinary but that is often how God works. He uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things so that He can be glorified and magnified. The church continues to keep their doors open for people to hear the Gospel and to faithfully serve the Lord. Praise be to God.

___________________

OUR MISSION

The mission of this church is to promote the worship of the Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit; to proclaim and teach the Word of God; to provide opportunity for believers to grow in grace and in knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

OUR VALUES
Members Covenant
Having been brought by God’s sovereign grace to turn from our sin and trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ; having been baptized by immersion upon our profession of faith; and having entered into membership with this assembly as a sacred fellowship; we the members of Anchor Baptist Church solemnly and joyfully renew our covenant with each other.
WORSHIP
We will value corporate worship by not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. We will worship Him reverently, fervently, and sincerely. We will lift high His Word and honor it as our only rule of faith and practice. We will support His work through this local gathering of believers with joyful, consistent, generous offerings and by cheerfully submitting to those whom He has placed in spiritual leadership. We will pray for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Colossians 3:15-17)
GROW
We will value spiritual growth by walking together in brotherly love, exercising care and watchfulness over each other, and by faithfully admonishing and entreating one another as occasion may require. While firmly believing that God is the giver of spiritual growth, we will strive to grow in grace by exercising our gifts and abilities in the church, by teaching each other the Scriptures, by stirring each other to love and good works, by remembering each other in prayer, and by allowing liberty in matters of conscience. (Hebrews 10:19-25)
DISCIPLE
We will value discipleship by eagerly and faithfully testifying of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to both our family and friends. We will pray for their salvation, actively take part in their discipleship, and seek to send them out from among us as mature disciples, evangelists, and missionaries. We will endeavor to bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We will pray for their salvation, actively take part in their discipleship and seek to send them out from among us as mature disciples, evangelists, and missionaries. (Matt. 28:19-20)

OUR BELIEF

THE BIBLE
We believe the sixty-six books of the Bible are the “breathed out” Word of God and the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. We believe that holy men of God wrote under the direct control of the Holy Spirit in such a manner so that the original manuscripts were without error.
II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21

THE TRIUNE GOD
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is JEHOVAH, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:18-19; II Corinthians 13:14

CREATION
We believe in the direct creation by God of the physical universes, all spirit beings, man, and lower forms of life, without the process of evolution, and also that the early chapters of Genesis are literal and accurate history. God sustains all creation but exists in no necessary relationship to it.
Genesis 1-2; Colossians 1:15-18

MANKIND
We believe that man was created in the image of God and that by voluntary transgression fell and is now alienated from God and in need of grace for salvation, being totally incapable of restoring his relationship with God through His own effort and works.
Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23

SALVATION
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God; who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon him our nature, yet without sin; honored the divine law by his personal obedience, and by his death made a full atonement for our sins; that having risen from the dead he is now enthroned in heaven; and uniting in his wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfections, he is every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Savior.
Romans 5:8; Romans 6:23

SANCTIFICATION
We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of his holiness; that it is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration; and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of the appointed means – especially, the word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness and prayer.
I Peter 1:1-2; Philippians 1:6

THE CHURCH
We believe that a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His word; that its only scriptural officers are Pastors/Elders, and Deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus.
Matthew 28:18-21; Acts 2:41-42

THE WORLD TO COME
We believe that Christ is returning and will establish His kingdom on the new heaven and new earth forever. The wicked will be judged to endless punishment, and the righteous to endless joy; and that this judgment will fix forever the final state of men in heaven or hell.
I Cor. 15:50-56; Rev. 20:11-15

MARRIAGE AND SEXUALITY

We believe that God creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture.

Gen. 2:18,22-25; Mark 10:6-9