Spiritual Ethoses

1. Authority of Creed and Canon

We stand within the historic, orthodox faith of the Church. Holy Scripture is the divinely inspired Word of God, received by the Church as a faithful and authoritative witness to God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ. Through Scripture, the Church is continually formed, instructed, and renewed, and all teaching is discerned and tested in faithfulness to the apostolic witness, as Scripture is received, proclaimed, and lived within the life of the Church.

The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 AD) is our shared confession and authoritative summary of the Apostolic faith, received across time, culture, and denomination. We affirm this Creed as our common rule of faith, expressing the Church's unified confession of the Triune God and the saving work of Jesus Christ.

For the sake of shared study, prayer, and teaching across our diverse Christian traditions, we adopt the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as a common scriptural foundation for our corporate life, while recognising that some traditions also receive additional books as part of their wider canonical heritage. This shared foundation enables unity without requiring uniformity.

For our internal liturgical and teaching use, the New Revised Standard Version Anglicised (NRSVA) is chosen for its scholarly rigour and broad acceptance across Christian traditions.

2. Christ-Centred

Christ is at the centre of everything we do at Australian Christian Arts.

• We proclaim Jesus Christ as God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, eternally begotten of the Father and of one being with Him, who for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos. He alone is the eternal Word of God made flesh, the one incarnate Person of the Divine Logos, fully divine and fully human, existing in two natures, united without confusion, without change, without division, and without separation. His divinity was never parted from His humanity, not even for a moment nor a twinkling of an eye.
• We affirm that Christ alone, as the eternal Son, pre-existed in His divine nature and freely assumed a complete human nature within history. In taking on flesh, God did not bypass the body but redeemed it. In Christ, the body is neither incidental nor disposable; it is the place where obedience, worship, suffering, beauty, discipline, and love are worked out.
• We proclaim Christ crucified — the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:23–24). At the cross, we behold the fullness of God’s love, the depth of Christ’s self-giving sacrifice, and the redemption accomplished through His obedience unto death. Here, sin is judged, mercy is revealed, and the way of new life is opened. Our faith remains anchored at the cross, where salvation was accomplished and reconciliation with God was secured in Christ.
• We proclaim Christ risen from the dead — the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20). By His resurrection, death has been defeated and the new creation has begun. Our hope and joy are rooted in the empty tomb, where life triumphed over death and the promise of eternal life was revealed for all who are united to Him.
• We proclaim Christ ascended into heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19). The One who humbled Himself unto death has been exalted above every name (Philippians 2:9). From there, He intercedes for us (Romans 8:34) and has poured out the promised Holy Spirit upon His people (Acts 2:33). We lift our eyes to the risen and reigning Christ, who governs all things and faithfully sustains His Church until the end of the age.
• We proclaim Christ who will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1). Just as He ascended, so He will return (Acts 1:11). We wait in hope for His appearing, when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10–11). Our hearts are fixed on the promise that He will make all things new (Revelation 21:5).
  

3. Creative Arts in the Service of God

We believe that the arts belong to the worship of God because God Himself first called them forth. When the Lord commanded the building of the Tabernacle, He filled Bezalel with His Spirit, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of crafts, to make artistic designs in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut stones, and to work in wood (Exodus 31:1–5). The beauty of the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, was not incidental to Israel's worship; it was commanded by God, who desired that His dwelling place be adorned with excellence, artistry, and devoted craftsmanship.

From the beginning, God the Father is confessed as the Creator of heaven and earth, who brought all things into being through His eternal Word, Jesus Christ. As the Scriptures testify, "All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being" (John 1:1). Creation itself is therefore Christ-shaped, formed through the Son and ordered toward Him. In creating the world with beauty, order, and purpose, God made humanity in His image and entrusted us, as creatures formed through Christ, to cultivate, build, and bring forth beauty for His glory.

We affirm that godly artistic excellence flows from a life of deepening humility and devotion to the Triune God — the Father who creates, the Son through whom all things were made and redeemed, and the Holy Spirit who gives life and wisdom. Such artistry is sustained by prayer and nourished by a living and obedient relationship with God, lived out within the community of faith, so that our creative work may serve not our own glory, but the glory of God and the good of others.

Through music, movement, word, and image, we offer our work to the Lord with earnestness and sincere humility. Aware of our iniquity, and of the sin and sorrow that mark all human making, we do not presume upon our offerings, but present them with broken and contrite hearts, entrusting them wholly to God. In prayer, we ask that the Holy Spirit might take even what is imperfect, yet offered in humility and for the glory of God, and use it to enlighten the eyes of hearts and draw all people toward the Creator of all things, who through His Son Jesus Christ has redeemed the world.

4. Oneness in Christ

We affirm the unity of the Church in the one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all who are baptised into Him are made one body. This unity is a real gift received in Christ, even where its visible expression is incomplete. Our oneness is not grounded in sameness of culture, style, or temperament, but in our shared participation — koinonia — in Christ, who gathers His people into communion by the Holy Spirit and calls His Church toward ever-deeper unity in truth and love.

Within Australian Christian Arts, Christians of many traditions gather in common worship and service, not by erasing real differences, but by holding those differences within the deeper unity we have received in Christ. We confess one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, given for the forgiveness of sins and the life of the world, while humbly acknowledging that the Church continues to grow toward fuller visible unity.

Together, we confess that salvation is the work of the Triune God — accomplished by the Father, through the Son, and brought to fruition in us by the Holy Spirit — and that it is by grace that we are saved.

5. Respect for Historic Christian Morality

We affirm the moral vision of historic Christianity as something received, not invented. Rooted in our confession of Jesus Christ as true God and true man, this vision seeks the formation of the whole person — body, soul, and spirit — into the likeness of Christ.

Australian Christian Arts respects and shows visible honour toward the traditional beliefs, moral teachings, philosophical wolrd-views, and ethical vision received by the Church through Scripture and faithfully expressed in the lived faith of believers across the centuries. We hold these convictions as belonging to the consistent witness of the Church across its many traditions, and we seek to reflect them faithfully in our corporate life, communal fellowship, internal gatherings, and public witness.

We also affirm that moral formation is a lifelong journey of grace, growth, repentance, and renewal, held with humility, patience, and pastoral care.

A Note on Partnering Churches

We welcome the richness of the wider Church and are glad to fellowship with congregations of many styles and expressions. We will partner with churches whose convictions reflect the historic faith and moral teaching of the Church as confessed in this document. In this way, we honour the heritage of the Church and stand with the vast majority of Christians worldwide.

(See 1 Corinthians 15:33; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Romans 13:13–14; Romans 6:12–13; Romans 12:1–2)

6. Devotion to Christ

Devotion is the ordered response of our whole life to the One who has drawn us into communion with Himself. This devotion takes form through prayer, Scripture, worship, participation in the means Christ has given to His Church, and faithfulness in the ordinary rhythms of daily life. We therefore commit ourselves to a life of ongoing devotion and discipleship, recognising that following Christ is not a moment but a lifelong journey of formation.

We honour the holy practices Christ has given to His Church and respond in obedience and thanksgiving to what God has accomplished for us in Jesus Christ. We expect such devotion to mature through discipline, teaching, and life in community, as the life of Christ is increasingly formed and made visible in us.

The regular rhythm of membership at Australian Christian Arts, and our ongoing journey of humility and attentiveness to what God may be teaching each of us individually and as a community, are not separate from our devotion to God. Nor are they separate from the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, through whom Christ is formed in us.