Get to know us
About us
We are glad you are here. You probably have a fair few questions about who we are – we hope you find answers to at least some of them here.
Welcome!
Who we are
We are a Christian community that grew out of the work of the Proem Foundation. We rest on Holy Scripture alone – the Old and the New Testament – the only inspired and final authority in matters of faith and Christian living.
One God
We believe in the one God the Father, in the Son of God Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit.
The cross and the resurrection
We believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for us and for our sin, rose on the third day, ascended into Heaven and will one day return in glory.
Salvation
Salvation is ours only through personal repentance and confessing faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, confirmed by baptism by immersion in water.
Mission
Why we exist
The church was called by the Lord Jesus Christ to spread the Kingdom of God on earth – by worshipping God, proclaiming the Good News of salvation by grace through faith, and making others His disciples.
At the heart of following Christ is a process of constant change – character and life reshaped into the likeness of the Master. The Holy Spirit makes it possible, given to every believer at the moment of conversion.
Be with Jesus.
Before we do anything, we are with Him. Prayer and the Word are not an add-on to a life of faith – they are its ground.
Become like Jesus.
His character becomes ours. That is a lifetime of work, not one evening’s decision, and we do not do it alone.
Do what Jesus did.
Teach, serve, forgive, look for the lost. A faith that never leaves the church door stays a theory.
Practices
Like the first church
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Acts 2:42
We are not looking for a new idea of church. The one described in the Acts of the Apostles is enough. We try to live by the same practices.
Apostolic teaching
We teach from Scripture rather than around it – week by week, book by book.
Fellowship
Faith is not a private matter here. We know one another by name.
Breaking of bread
We share the Lord’s Supper at every service – it is the centre, not an addition.
Prayer
Together and alone, out loud and in silence. We ask before we act.
Meeting in homes
During the week groups meet around tables – that is where the real conversations happen.
Generosity and sharing
What we have is not only ours. Money, time, a spare room.
Witness and growth
We tell people what God has done with us – and the church grows out of that.
Baptism of believers
Baptism by immersion, after a personal decision – never instead of one.
Foundations
Two words we stand on
Imago Dei
The image of God
Every human being was made in the image of God. It is not a merit or a rank – it is a fact about everyone we meet. So we treat people with dignity, whatever they believe, however they live and whatever they carry behind them.
Missio Dei
The mission of God
Mission does not start with us. God goes out to the world, and the church is invited along. We have no plan of our own for saving the world – we join what God is already doing.
Our rule
How we handle differences
This is the rule of the whole Church of Christ in Poland – and the way we talk to one another when we do not agree.
In essentials, unity
We keep unity in the fundamental matters of faith, the ones Scripture states plainly.
In opinions, freedom
We respect a diversity of opinions and views in secondary matters – the ones the Bible can be read on in more than one way.
In all things, love
In everything we show love, which is the finest bond of any human community.
Our history
Since 2006
SCh Tomy has been here since 2006, but we do not start from scratch. We are part of the Church of Christ in Poland – a movement of evangelical churches of the so-called second reformation, which began in Poland in 1921 and calls for a return to the source: the teaching of Jesus Christ held in Holy Scripture.
Today the Church of Christ gathers the faithful in 48 communities across the country. SCh Tomy is entered in the Register of churches and religious associations of the Ministry of the Interior (section A, item 24).
1921
The beginnings of the Church of Christ on Polish soil – the mission work of Konstanty Jaroszewicz.
1990
Ewa and Władysław Dwulat register the Proem Foundation – the second Christian NGO in Poland. Camps for children and young people begin.
2000
The Christian Centre of the Proem Foundation in Zakościele is bought and renovated. A year later the first camps open the centre.
2003
The Tomy Christian Centre opens on Bartosza Głowackiego street in Tomaszów Mazowiecki.
2004
The first services of the future Christian Community.
2006
SCh Tomy is officially registered in Tomaszów Mazowiecki. Rafał Piekarski becomes senior pastor; the Council of Elders is formed by Daniel Wawrzyniak and John Crozier. The Tomaszek nursery opens.
2008
The move to the present home at Jerozolimska 1E – the former Mazowsze cinema.
2010
The Proem Foundation and SCh Tomy start relief and mission work in Łódź.
2015
The first SCh Tomy services in Łódź – the Small Theatre in Manufaktura; the Solna 15 club opens.
2018
Tomaszów moves to two Sunday services: 9:30 and 11:30.
2024
Services of SCh Tomy start in Piotrków Trybunalski – the Stary Areszt gallery.
Motto of the Church of Christ in Poland