As part of the Church of England, we are part of its calling to be a Christian presence in every community. As part of the established church, we take seriously the fact that everyone who lives, works or visits our parishes are part of our congregations. We welcome everyone and we are honoured to serve everyone. We believe that no-one is outside of God’s love, so no-one is outside of his church. Just as the rivers connect our villages, we believe that we are all connected by God, our common heavenly father, creator, sustainer and redeemer.
People do not go to church because they have God or their lives sorted, they go to church because they know that they are far from being whole and seek to grapple with the big issues that they face. Church is not a groups of people who all believe in exactly the same things, but a group of people who are caught up in the same story with God’s image being perfectly reflected in Jesus at its centre.
Please feel welcome to come to your parish church at any time; they are open during the day and we have regular services where people can grapple with life’s mysteries together.
Our lives can be so busy that it is not just God and his amazing love that we don’t notice, but we can often overlook those closest to us or that wonderful sky or birdsong. Going to church is a great way to take a moment out of the treadmill of life; to stop, to stare, to reflect, to re-evaluate.
Jesus said that he came so that people may have life in its fullness (John 10:10). We pray that you will have life in its fulness because you allow the author of life to be present in you.