About Us
WE ARE A JESUS-CENTRED CHURCH FOR CALGARY & FOR THE WORLD
Welcome to Brentview!
At the heart of it all is Jesus.
To be part of Brentview is to explore what our lives and this world might be like if we continuously sought Jesus in prayer, followed Jesus in daily life, and learned from Jesus about how become more alive and awake to his grace and love. No matter where you may be in your own personal journey—whether you are curious about God or a lifelong Christian—welcome to a new kind of family. You belong here. Welcome home.
What We Do Together
(Our Rhythms)
Here at Brentview we are unashamedly “a Jesus-centred church FOR Calgary.” We are designed to be part of something bigger than we could ever accomplish by ourselves.
To simplify a bit, there are 3 basic things that we do together:
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We worship God and seek to become Jesus-centred in all aspects of our lives. In these larger Sunday gatherings we come together to be empowered to live more like Jesus, engage together in the sacraments, and create a welcoming space where anyone can explore faith in Jesus.
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We were made to do life with others. In Christ, we become a new kind of family. Groups bring people together to practice the way of Jesus together. They eat, pray, reflect on the sermon, and do missional initiatives (FOR Calgary) together.
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We are called by Jesus to live out self-giving love. All we have is from God so we give it back to God’s mission in the world and to ministry in our local church. We serve on ministry teams, contribute financially, and work together on FOR Calgary and global missional causes.
What We Value
(What we are FOR)
We are a Jesus-Centred church FOR Calgary and FOR the world.
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“We seek Jesus and his kingdom first.“
God looks like Jesus. He is the expression of the exact character of God, who eternally exists as Father, Son, and Spirit. The gospel, simply put, is “Jesus is Lord.” We offer our allegiance to him alone. Jesus is our why. His good news is central to everything we are and everything we do. He offers hope, purpose, and freedom to everyone. He fully reveals God and is our model for an abundant human life. Jesus (with the Father and Spirit) is the centre of the universe, the Scriptures, the church, and our lives. Jesus is worthy of our worship and he deems us worthy of an intimate relationship with him.
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“We learn and live out the way of Jesus.”
Jesus is our source of change. As his disciples, we invite his Spirit to be our teacher and guide. Since every person is made in the image of God, we are all invited to be transformed into the Christlike image-bearers that our Creator always wanted for this world. As we change from the inside out, empowered by the Father’s compassion and the Spirit’s miraculous work, we become more fully human like Jesus. In the context of Christian community, we come alongside fellow disciples who are in different stages of the spiritual formation journey. Through the abiding life of the Spirit in us, we experience a foretaste of God’s future restored world—our resurrection inheritance—in the here and now.
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“We join God's mission of healing the world.”
God is on a mission to restore all things. Anyone who accepts God’s grace encounters true peace through Jesus and joins his Kingdom movement of restoration. We follow Jesus in loving neighbours and enemies with the desire to see all people experience God's reconciling grace. God’s mission will ultimately be complete when Jesus returns to resurrect humanity, judge evil, heal brokenness, abolish death, and renew this world. Empowered by the Spirit, we seek to be signposts of God’s future world through acts of peacemaking, compassion, justice, healing, and by inviting all people into God’s family.
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“We love one another.”
Our love for God is demonstrated by our love for one another. We are a new kind of family, unified by our shared pursuit of Jesus and by embodying God's kingdom way of life together. He's our common centre, so we are defined by our relationship to Christ, not by religiosity or spiritual checklists. We worship together, play together, and grow together to serve the people of Calgary. Our love for each other spurs us on to love God, our neighbours, and even enemies with the love we've experienced as part of God's renewed family.
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“We contribute to our shared kingdom work.”
All that we have is from God, so we share self-sacrificially. We joyfully give our time, our energy, and our resources. In our church family, we discern opportunities to serve on a ministry team. We engage in the life of the church together as partners in God's in-breaking Kingdom. We hold on to things lightly so we can walk boldly into the opportunities God makes available. Generosity is a character shaping virtue that the Spirit cultivates within us. Therefore, when we serve as volunteers or contribute financially, we do so with a posture of joy and an openness to sacrifice.
Where We Come From
(Our Story)
For the past 60+ years, Brentview has had a passion to love the people of Calgary from its location in the Triwood community.
Located near the University of Calgary, Brentview began as a church strategically situated to reach out to the then-developing northwest region of the city—its families (especially through hosting kids programming) and its students.
In 1962, in partnership with the North American Baptist Conference, Brentview Baptist Church was born. Property was acquired and the decision was made to begin building with the construction of a multipurpose gymnasium with educational space. The heart behind this approach was to have a facility that could be a blessing to the neighbourhood throughout the week, rather than only having the capacity to host Sunday worship gatherings. It would be nearly a decade later when the church would discern that it was time to construct a permanent sanctuary. From its origins, Brentview desired to place Jesus at the centre of everything, including being active in loving the neighbours God entrusts to us.
Over the years, different opportunities presented themselves to follow Jesus and to generously serve others. From dynamic kids programs, to adult discipleship opportunities, to sending and supporting missionaries throughout the world—Brentview continued to grow as a partner with God in sharing the good news of Jesus.
Today, Brentview continues to follow Jesus and serve the city, following in the footsteps of those who laid both the physical and spiritual foundation of our church. You are invited to join us as we seek to be a Jesus-centred church FOR Calgary and FOR the world.
What We Believe
(Our Core Convictions)
At the heart of it, we are a Jesus-centred church. We believe that Jesus (together with the Father and the Spirit) is the centre of eternity, cosmic history, church history, and our lives.
Throughout the past 2,000 years, the Christian tradition has embraced some core convictions. Ancient followers of Jesus came up with many ways of capturing the essence of our faith, which eventually inspired two of the Creeds of the church, which are summaries of the basic story in the Bible. These are called the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed.
We also associate with a specific community of churches called the North American Baptist Conference. We share convictions about the Scriptures which are listed below.
Shared Convictions (NAB)
We believe the Bible is God’s Word given by divine inspiration, the record of God’s revelation of Himself to humanity (II Timothy 3:16).
We believe in the one living and true God, perfect in wisdom, sovereignty, holiness, justice, mercy and love (I Timothy 1:17; Psalm 86:15; Deuteronomy 32:3-4).
We believe God created an order of spiritual beings called angels to serve Him and do His will (Psalm 148:1-5; Colossians 1:16).
We believe God created humans in His own image to have fellowship with Himself and to be steward over His creation (Genesis 1:26-28).
We believe salvation is redemption by Christ of the whole person from sin and death (II Timothy 1:9-10; I Thessalonians 5:23).
We believe the Church is the body of which Christ is the head and all who believe in Him are members (Ephesians 1:22-23; Romans 12:4-5).
We believe religious liberty, rooted in Scripture, is the inalienable right of all individuals to freedom of conscience with ultimate accountability to God (Genesis 1:27; John 8:32; II Corinthians 3:17; Romans 8:21; Acts 5:29).
We believe Christians, individually and collectively, are salt and light in society (Matthew 5:13-16).
We believe God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring all things to their appropriate end and establish the new heaven and the new earth (Ephesians 1:9-10, Revelation 21:1).
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,***
the communion of the saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
*** ”Catholic” means “universal.” In other words, Jesus is the centre of the “capital C” church, of which Brentview is a part.
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic*** and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
*** ”Catholic” means “universal.” In other words, Jesus is the centre of the “capital C” church, of which Brentview is a part.