Our Vision & Life Together
To know Jesus and to make Him known.
Introduction
Before we tell you what we do, we would love you to know who we are.
Who We Are
Reconciled to God and to one another
We are a people reconciled to God and to one another through Jesus Christ. Everything else begins here. When the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, he was writing to a very mixed congregation. Some had grown up in the faith of Israel and some had not. Many had once been strangers to God, and in all sorts of ways they had been strangers to each other too. Then Paul writes these words: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace." Ephesians 2:13-14 Paul is describing something far bigger than a private change of heart. On the cross, Jesus did two things at once. He brought us near to God, and in doing so He brought us near to one another. The walls that divide people were broken down, and Christ's purpose, Paul says, was "to create in himself one new humanity." That is why we say the Church is not primarily a building, an institution or a programme. We love our churches. Some have stood in these villages for centuries, and they hold the prayers of generations. Yet Paul tells us the true dwelling place of God is a people: "And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Ephesians 2:22 So we are a family of four churches, made up of people of different ages, backgrounds and experiences. Some of us have followed Jesus for most of our lives. Others are only beginning to ask who He is. What we share is not a building we visit, but a people we belong to, and a Lord who has made us His own. Jesus is at the centre of who we are.
Why We Gather
Gathered around Jesus
We gather to know Jesus. If the Church is a people rather than a place, then gathering is not a Sunday habit we keep up out of duty. It is what God's people have always done. From the very beginning, the first Christians "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (Acts 2:42). Nearly two thousand years later, the shape of our worship is recognisably the same. We hear God's Word. We pray. We share Holy Communion. We encourage one another. At the heart of it is a promise. Jesus said: "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20 When we meet, whether it is a packed church on Christmas Eve or a handful of us on a quiet weekday morning, we are not simply meeting each other. We are gathering around Him. He is the one who calls us together, and He is the reason we come. This matters because following Jesus was never intended to be a journey we make alone. We need one another. We need reminding of what is true when life is hard, and we need to be carried in prayer when we cannot find the words ourselves. We need people who will love us patiently and, when necessary, gently point us back to Christ. We gather because we belong to Christ and, through Him, to one another. And that gathering does not end at the church door. It carries on over coffee, around kitchen tables and in the everyday friendships of village life.
Why Our Life Together Matters
Making God's wisdom known
Our life together makes Jesus known.
There is one verse in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that has shaped the way we understand our calling more than almost any other:
“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:10-11
It is an extraordinary claim. Paul says that God’s wisdom, His plan for the whole of creation, is put on display through the Church. Not only through what the Church says, but through what the Church is.
The word Paul uses for “manifold” suggests something richly varied, like many colours woven into a single cloth. That is a helpful picture for us. Our differences are not a problem to be managed. When people who might never otherwise have chosen each other’s company learn to worship side by side, to forgive one another, to share what they have and to welcome the stranger, something of God’s wisdom becomes visible. Held together in Christ, our variety becomes part of the picture.
So there is something profoundly important about simply being the Church. We do not have to be large, impressive or perfect. We are ordinary people in rural parishes, and on some Sundays we are few in number. But when God’s people gather around Christ, worship together, hear His Word, pray, forgive one another, welcome people, serve their communities and live generously, our life together becomes part of our witness.
Through His Church, God demonstrates His wisdom and His reconciling love.
Together, our lives declare that Jesus Christ is Lord.
How We Live
How we live because Jesus is Lord
We seek to know Jesus and make Him known in everyday life. The same Jesus who gathers us also sends us. On the evening of the first Easter, the risen Lord stood among His frightened disciples and said, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (John 20:21). Our life together was never meant to stay inside our church buildings. It spills out into our homes, our work, our schools and our villages, and into wherever God has placed each one of us. Our seven priorities describe what that looks like. They are not a list of church activities, nor a programme to be completed. They flow from who we are. Because Jesus Christ is Lord, and because He has made us His people, this is how we seek to live.
Our seven priorities
Worship
Prayer
God's Word
Relationships
Hospitality
Serving
Generosity
To know Jesus and to make Him known
That is our vision, and everything on this page flows from it. Whether you have been following Jesus for many years, are exploring faith for the first time, or are simply looking for a place to belong, you are warmly welcome among us. Come and join us on a Sunday, or get in touch. We would love to meet you.