About
About Jesus
Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the greatest news: God is on our side. He has not written any of us off no matter who we are. Many of us have missed it big time, but God has done all the work and made all the plans to secure our safety. How? He sent his only Son Jesus into the world to save us.
One person described Jesus as “… as much God as though he had never been man, and as much man as though he had never been God.” As such he is the only one who can unite a Holy God and a corrupt mankind.
What We Believe
We believe that the Bible as the inspired Word of God. It is God’s message to mankind, and is our God-given guide to Christian living and faith.
We believe that the way of Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ as God Son, our Saviour. Acts 5:24 “For there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we can be saved.”
We believe in the new birth - that is Jesus Christ changing us by his power from within by the power of his Holy Spirit upon faith in Christ as our Saviour. 2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ” [NIV]
We believe that one of the signs of the new birth is a changed life, and a desire to live a righteous holy life.
We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as an empowering experience, which is the inheritance of every true believer.
We believe that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins by paying the price for us.
We believe that he rose again from the grave on the third day, and lives forever glorified in heaven. (1 Cor.15:3)
A full detailed list of what we believe is available at the A.O.G. web site: here.
About our Pastor
John and Patsy Clack have been the ministering at Bethel Church Stonehouse since June 2001.
We are both originally from Gloucester - saved in Robinswood Assemblies of God Pentecostal Church in Gloucester under the anointed ministry of Pastor Albert Garner who was the pastor there for 37 years. Thanks to those years of spiritual input and ministry, I became the assistant pastor at Gloucester working alongside Pastor Garner (now retired).
We came to pastor the church in Stonehouse in the summer of 2001. It has been good to see the children’s work, the youth work and the Sunday school all re-established, the Sunday meetings are growing, and the building refurbished.
Ephesians 4 v.12 tells us that the responsibility of pastors is “to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ” [NLT].
We are totally committed to this task. Our aim is to encourage everyone who enters Bethel Church to reach his or her God-given potential. The mission Statement of Assemblies of God is the ethos of our church. We want to provide a place where everyone can grow in his or her relationship with God.
Our dual-role is to build up people in their faith inside the church so that they can effectively connect with the community outside so that they can share the love of Jesus with others, lead them to faith in him too. From the youngest child to the oldest adult, we are constantly working to encourage people to build their relationship with God and to be actively using their God-given talents.
We believe that encouragement builds confidence, which inspires action, producing personal growth, which in turn, encourages others.
If you live in or near Stonehouse we would love to meet you. We would like to give you a very warm welcome to Bethel Church.
Church History
Bethel Church was begun as the result of an evangelistic and divine healing campaign, conducted by Pastor Edward Jeffries in October 1929. Pastor Jeffries at that time was being used mightily by God in the healing of the sick, and bringing many souls to Christ thousands thronged the meetings, and Stonehouse was no exception.
People were attracted to the simple gospel preached under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and many local people were healed. About 300 people came to Christ, and Bethel Church- a building not then being used by the owners, Wycliffe College - became available. The new converts worked hard to make it an attractive and comfortable building to worship in.
Great meetings followed, and the church was established under “The Bethel Evangelistic Society”, later becoming affiliated with “Assemblies of God of Great Britain & Ireland”.
Bethel Church has continued under a number of pastors who all worked hard to make it, under God’s blessing, a continued blessing to many. The church has rejoiced to see many being saved through the years, and those who have children have seen them grow up in the church, later giving their hearts to the Lord - some going out to other places to be used actively for the Lord.
The church today is growing steadily. In 2003 we embarked on refurbishing of the building, and increasing it’s facilities. The church enjoys good facilities in it’s own building on the main street in Stonehouse.
