What Is Christianity?

The message at the heart of Christianity is pretty simple. Find out what it's all about on this two-minute video. Turn your speakers on! At the bottom of the page there are details on how to ask any questions you may have.

Christianity is about Jesus. But who is Jesus?

Jesus once asked his followers this question:

"Who do you say I am?"

A prophet with a new teaching?
A healer to the sick?
A saviour to a lost world?

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Jesus claimed each of these, but most importantly, he claimed to be God in the flesh.

At the dawn of time he ignited human history when he spoke. He breathed life into the lungs of the first man and woman - and every inch of creation itself.

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But we rebelled. We turned against our King and followed our own ways, even though it would cost us our life. Our sin poisoned his perfect creation, giving way to sickness, injustice, and death.

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Sin separated us from one another, and from God.

Why did Jesus come?

But rather than cast off humanity, God sent his Son Jesus to enter into the world he Created - the one broken by our sin. He breathed our air, became human like us.

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He lived a perfect life - the one God intended we live - and called us to repent of our sin and follow him in faith.

Some believed his word and recognised him as King. Others denied him. They crowned him with thorns and murdered him. They rejected him, and so have we.

But God had a plan. Jesus willingly gave himself up to die on a cross to save us from God's judgment and the death we deserve.

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On that cross, he exchanged our rebellion for his obedience. Our brokenness for his perfection.

The Son of God died so we could live.

And on the third day, he rose to life again, defeating death forever.

And now, he sits on the throne of heaven, offering life through the Holy Spirit to all those who repent and trust in him.

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What does it mean for us?

Jesus is the King of Kings.

You can either crown him or crucify him. There is no middle ground.

No one will ever ask you a more important question than the one Jesus asked:

Who do you say I am?

Questions?

Please contact us and we will be happy to go through your questions.

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Planning your Visit

A warm welcome from the St Mary's family...

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where?

We meet inside the main Church Building (details here) for our standard Sunday Services.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access available via the side entrance, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. There are disabled toilets just across in the extended section fo the building.

When?

The main service begins each Sunday at 10am.

For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to locate the car park opposite the church, and to find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Stewarding Team who will let you know the essentials for the service format.

What?

The service begins with a word of warm welcome. The service leader will then introduce the service, and some notices are given. Then follows a time of sung worship, led by either our band or organist. We will have included a couple of passages from the bible, a message related to the readings, and some prayers, intersperced with more sung worship.

Each week is followed by a chance to have refreshments after the service, if you have time available. This is a great place to meet a few others, and to get to know more about who we are and what we do.

Style of service:

Each Sunday of the month has a slightly different format. Some people prefer certain Sundays, but many enjoy worshipping across the full variety. It operates as follows:

1st Sunday: Holy Communion
2nd Sunday: Band-led informal worship with message
3rd Sunday: Holy Communion
4th Sunday: Band-led worship with message
5th Sunday (when applicable): Cafe church worship

Other services:

There is also a 8:00am traditional BCP service every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month, and an Evensong service every other month.

Our midweek service runs each Wednesday at 9.30am.

To simplify, you can click here to see our calendar and see exactly what is happening this week and beyond.

What about my kids?

We really value worshipping God all together as a family, but understand that younger ones have particular needs that would usually engage better in a separate group. We are privileged to have a Family Matters Keyworker who leads our 'explorers' children's group.

Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, notices, and first song before then heading out to their group. They are welcomed back in towards the end of the service; usually to sing a final song, and feed back to everyone what has been learned.

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but there is always a friendly welcome, with a variety of items including: bible story, praying, music, craft, discussion, and free play.

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Getting Connected

Connect Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone and engage with the real-life questions of faith. Being part of one of our Connect groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a few different groups that meet throughout the week. Check out the page 'Connect Groups' where we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to take your details to see about exploring a group to join.

Serving and Volunteering

Our church life is only made possible through the generosity of others serving in love! If you want to get involved in the life of the church, you can sign up to serve on a team.

This can involve helping with serving refreshments, giving a bible reading, helping on the tech desk, serving as a steward, and plenty more besides. Please do get in touch via the form below to inquire further.

Other Ministries

We also run the following groups and ministries:

Storybags toddler group
Messy church
Monthly prayer gathering
Friday night movie's
Tuesday games club
Friday craft group
Sat chat
Alpha

Again, specific details can be found my clicking across here.

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Warm regards

Rev Dave

Vicar to St Mary's

Rev Dave Cossey