Who is Bass Chapel?
We are BAPTIST. What does that even mean? Being BAPTIST means many things. Obviously, we believe in baptism by immersion in accordance with the New Testament command (Matt 3, John 3, Acts 8). Not only is baptism by immersion, it is for believers only, those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are trusting in Christ alone for salvation (Acts 8, Acts 16, Acts 22, Rom 6, Col 2). Beyond baptism, being BAPTIST refers to having a congregational form of church government. Since we believe in regenerate church membership, each member in indwelled by the same Holy Spirit. The congregation decides what direction the church will go; we prayerfully choose our leaders, and make decisions about the ministries of the church.
We are MISSIONARY. Being MISSIONARY means we are evangelistic. Those born-again by the supernatural work of a sovereign Triune God can’t help but tell others of the grace that has brought them from death to life, from darkness to light. Being MISSIONARY is a way of life, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those we come into contact with, as well as supporting God’s mission at home and abroad. We support international missionaries through New Vision International Ministries and Phillips Family Ministries/Compassionate Hope. Locally, Bass Chapel plays a leadership role in the Deeply Rooted Conference with its related events each year, and has a community evangelism/discipleship ministry called Ambassador Evangelism (Matt 28, Acts 1, II Cor 5).
We are CHRIST-CENTERED. Aren’t all churches CHRIST-CENTERED? Well, they should be, but it’s easy to divert focus from our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to drawing men by some other means, such as programs or entertainment. We can easily lose our first love and go chasing man-centered themes and pragmatism. We believe Christ is sufficient. Jesus is the Gospel. It is impossible to separate the God-Man, Jesus Christ from His work accomplished on the cross and in the empty tomb. Every part of the worship service at Bass Chapel is focused on glorifying Christ, as is every ministry. May God remove our lampstand should we ever think we must use the schemes of man to draw people to Christ (Heb 12, I Cor 1, I Cor 15, II Cor 4, Rom 1, II Tim 4).
We are ELDER-LED. Many Baptist churches are deacon-led, or committee-led or trustee-led, but is that what we see in the New Testament? Christ alone is the Head of the church (Eph 1, Eph 5, I Cor 11, Col 1). He has gifted different believers for different ministries through His Holy Spirit. The terms “elder,” “pastor,” “shepherd,” “bishop,” “overseer,” and “presbyter” are used synonymously (Eph 4, I Tim 3, I Pet 5, Acts 20). These are all the same office, men gifted by God to shepherd the local body of believers. Deacons aren’t told they will give an account for the souls they shepherd, neither are committees or trustees, but elders are (Heb 13). Many churches are a top-down design. Rome has a pope, Presbyterians have the General Assembly, Episcopalians have the archbishop, but we see in Scripture that the local body is led by a plurality of elders that is accountable ultimately to God, but locally to the Spirit-filled members of the local church. Being ELDER-LED doesn’t mean a solo pastor dictating policy, it means a plurality of God-called men serving the body by leading the church of God to the glory of God. A healthy church has a plurality of elders, as seen throughout the New Testament (I Tim 5, Titus 1, Jam 5, I Pet 5, Acts 20, Phil 1).
We are CONFESSIONAL. Every Christian and Christian church claims to believe the Bible, but what do we believe about the Bible. Even cults have beliefs about the Bible, but what do they believe about the Bible. Baptists have been a CONFESSIONAL people from the beginning, putting pen to paper to make clear what we believe and teach, from the First London Baptist Confession of 1644 to the Baptist Faith and Message of 2000. Some are more robust in doctrine, and some are more generic. Doctrinal distinctives are another mark that has made Baptists what we are, and Bass Chapel adopted the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 as our official confession in 2022. A confession is only of worth as it stands on Scripture. This is a summary of what we believe Scripture clearly teaches regarding such doctrines as Scripture, God, Justification, Assurance, Works, Free Will, Marriage, the Church, Lord’s Supper, etc.
We are BASS CHAPEL. We hope this answers some questions you may have about Bass Chapel Missionary Baptist Church. Perhaps it raised more questions. Feel free to visit basschapelbaptist.org or send an email to basschapelbaptist@gmail.com.
Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone),
The Elders of Bass Chapel