Cornerstone Church Kingston joins the FIEC

Last month Cornerstone Church Kingston was accepted as a member of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC). Below a message from John Stevens The FIEC National Director fill us in with why it’s good to be part of this movement.

It’s easy to marginalise a lone independent church. But a family of a few hundred churches? That’s much harder to ignore. Together we can join in the big conversations and be a force for good.

Even the largest independent church struggles to be heard on a national level. Meaningful relationships with other church groupings, government agencies, the national media and Bible colleges are pretty much impossible for a single local church. FIEC is made up of over 500 local churches and therefore represents in the region of 33,000 people (members + attendees). Now that’s a force to be reckoned with!

The aims of FIEC National are two-fold:

The first is to take a big picture view of Independency here in the UK. This means providing the best theological support for independent churches, demonstrating that our Doctrinal Basis and ecclesiology are truly biblical, and warning against heresies that threaten the church today. It also involves building our identity as a Fellowship and discovering how we can best serve the gospel in our generation. This allows us to coordinate our other strands of activity (Pastoral, Practical, Training & Mission) as well as drive such activities as our annual Leaders’ Conference.

The second aim is to speak on behalf of Independent evangelical churches. We understand that our churches vary in practices and beliefs, but what we do agree on are the most important things and it’s these that we want to give a voice to. This includes relating to other Christian bodies – such as developing fruitful relationships with groupings of evangelical churches, para-church ministries and gospel initiatives – and representing the heart and concerns of FIEC churches to the government and in the media.