Ethos Statement
re:fresh books & christian resources

Refresh books & christian resources was established in 2004 to resource the local Christian community and support the work of local churches as they seek to advance the Christian faith.  It sells Bibles, Christian books, music and DVDs to encourage, equip and teach.  It also offers a large stock of quality greeting cards, gifts and general books including reference books, classics and popular children’s books.  As an essential part of its ministry, it seeks to complement the work of local churches by offering prayer and encouragement to customers with spiritual and emotional needs.

Staff are all committed Christians, drawn from a variety of local churches, who share this vision.  This enables them to offer advice and guidance on books and other materials suited to the needs of individual customers, whatever their background and stage on the Christian pathway.  

The doctrinal position of the business is in line with the established tenets of the Christian faith as set out in the historic creeds and in the Evangelical Alliance basis of faith. This includes:-

•  The One Sovereign God, Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and all Life.

•  Men and women are created in God’s image to enjoy a relationship with God but that relationship is broken by our sinful desire to live life our own way.

•  Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who took human flesh, being born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life and died on the cross to pay the penalty for human sin.  He rose again from the dead, ascended to Heaven and will return in power and glory.

•  The necessity for a personal faith in Jesus Christ to appropriate the benefits of his death in each believer’s life, bringing forgiveness of sins, justification and reconciliation with God.

•  The Holy Spirit, through whom God indwells every true believer, teaching, guiding and empowering them to live according to God’s will.

•  The divine inspiration and authority of the Bible, comprising the 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament.  These are our final authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

•  The Christian Church, comprising God’s people in every age and culture, who have been redeemed with the blood of Jesus Christ.  The purpose of the Church is to worship God, build one-another up in faith and reach out to a lost world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The proprietors retain the right to sell, or withhold from sale, material with which they, or their customers, are not personally in agreement.  Nor can they undertake to monitor the content of all that they sell.  There are inevitably issues on which Christians differ, and from time-to-time authors express views that provoke controversy.  Published media forms an essential vehicle for evaluation and debate on such issues.  However, where it is felt that material teaches serious error, presents an unbalanced view or is liable to undermine the faith of new Christians, we retain the right to remove it from our shelves.  We may, however supply such material to customers who request it specifically.