The Parish Church was established by lay folk in 1870, to secure a permanent Evangelical ministry and to meet the spiritual needs of a rapidly growing population. Christ Church parish was uniquely established within the diocese of Manchester as a response to a need for a specifically evangelical church.
Soon after the Parish Church was founded it became clear that for the Gospel message to reach the whole parish further meetings in other locations would be necessary and so a Sunday School was established around the Denton Lane area of the parish.
A few years after the Denton Lane Church of England Day School, was opened in 1875, the Vicar of Christ Church began Sunday evening services in the School; the first St. Saviour’s church was built a few years later in 1909. St. Saviour’s church has been in three different buildings; the current building was opened in October 1986, next to the present Christ Church day school.
The reason the parish was established and it’s mission to expand the gospel has remained unchanged for the last 150 years and this outlook still remains.
Basis of Faith (Crosslinks)
Standing in succession to those who founded the Bible Churchmen’s Missionary Society (now Crosslinks) in 1922, we share their vision for the proclamation of the gospel of God’s grace to all people. We hold to the following beliefs:
1. The Bible is God’s word written
Carried along by the Holy Spirit, the human authors spoke from God and their words are wholly trustworthy in all that they affirm and deny. Being God- breathed the Scriptures are the full, final and sufficient revelation of God, and are therefore our supreme authority in all matters of faith and doctrine.
2. Sin renders all people liable to condemnation
By nature all people are rebels against their Creator, and objects of his righteous anger and wrath. Being dead in sin we are powerless to save ourselves and, apart from God’s mercy and the life giving power of the Holy Spirit, must surely perish on the Day of Judgement.
3. The gospel proclaims the only way of salvation
The living God, eternally existing in three persons, has acted in love for the salvation of men and women, old and young from every people and nation. God the Father sent God the Son into the world to be the Saviour we need; God the Son gave himself up to death on the cross to redeem all who will turn and trust in him for their salvation; God the Holy Spirit brings the blessing of conviction of sin and new birth into the rich inheritance of grace and truth, pardon and peace won for us by Christ. This belongs equally to all who are adopted as children of God. In Christ there is now no condemnation.
4. Jesus is the only Saviour, and judge of all
In the fullness of his eternal deity our Lord Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and became man, being born of the Virgin Mary. He took upon himself a perfect human nature without compromising his divine nature and acquired a truly human experience. Humbling himself to death on a cross, Jesus shed his blood as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, bearing in our place the condemnation our sin deserved. All who turn to him as Lord are justified by faith alone through grace alone and, having Christ’s righteousness credited to them, are assured of eternal life. By raising Jesus bodily from the dead, and by exalting him into heaven, God the Father demonstrated full acceptance of Christ’s finished atoning work and proclaimed him to be the one who will judge all the world.
5. The worldwide church is the fellowship of all who belong to Christ
The people of God consists of all those who are born again by the Spirit. The fellowship of believers is sustained primarily through prayer and the ministry
of God’s word, with baptism and the Lord’s Supper as important signs of God’s covenant of grace. The risen and ascended Lord Jesus gives gifts and ministries to his people so that, under the authority of his word, his church may be built up in love to serve God and proclaim his salvation in the power of the Spirit.
6. God’s mission is to proclaim salvation to the ends of the earth
All mission is God’s mission. From the time of humanity’s rebellion God has acted in loving mercy to seek and to save the lost. It is God who is the missioner, and the church is the fruit of his mission. Out of his great love God the Father sent his one and only Son into the world, not to condemn but to save. Likewise, Jesus sent his disciples into the world with delegated authority, and in living dependence upon the Spirit. They were sent to make available the forgiveness of sins to all who will believe. Jesus prayed that every subsequent generation of his people would be united with the Apostles in belief and mission, and so today we continue to take God’s word to God’s world. We proclaim the forgiveness of sins to all nations, and teach all that Jesus commanded, baptising in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, until he returns in glory. God delays Jesus’ return, not wishing any to perish but all to come to eternal life. But return he will, to judge the living and the dead, to usher in the new heaven and new earth, to call his servants to account and to receive them into glory.
We are a lively, Gospel-hearted, Bible-believing, conservative evangelical church. We believe the bible’s teaching on human sexuality and the sanctity of marriage; marriage being a gift from God, between one man and one woman for life.
The PCC of this parish has passed a resolution under the House of Bishop’s Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests in order to reflect its convictions on the distinctive ministry of men and women.
The interior of the parish church was refurbished in 1995 to allow a more flexible arrangement within the Church. Gone are the stone floors and wooden pews that people expect to find in an old Church building, to be replaced with carpets and comfortable cushioned chairs. These improvements, along with modern data projection and audio facilities help to provide a warm and friendly place to worship in.