At St Paul's we are a community of people who are seeking to worship together and serve God in our local community.
We have a lot of diversity within our congregation, both in terms of age (Our oldest is in their 90s, and our youngest is under 5 years old) and in ethnicity (We have a mixture of people from all over the world regularly attending services, or as part of our other groups that we run throughout the week) and ask only that people bring themselves as they are and meet us where we are at.
Our services are of a more traditional style, with organ music and hymns accompanying the services. We will sometimes use incense in worship, and bells and candles accompany much of the liturgy.
Our journey together
The life of the church is made up of lots of individuals, each on their own journey with all the joys and struggles that entails. As a church we support each other on the journey that we are on individually, as we move into what we are called to as a church in this area.
We are encouraging of those who are questionning
Is church for me? Do I have a faith? Where has my faith gone? What do I believe?
If you have been a person of faith in the past, or are new to/starting on a faith journey, please feel free to come along to a service and make yourself known to one of the team. Where we can we will answer any questions you have about our service and service style.
We are fully supportive of women in ministry
We seek to encourage and support anyone who has the calling to serve in any sort of ministry or service in the church regardless of gender. Ministry is not just those who wear dog collars, it covers all acts of service and support.
If you feel you would like to get more involved with the life of this church by serving on a team or rota, or would like support in finding out whether or how to take the next steps into formal ministry, please let us know.
We are committed to follow the Prayers of Love and Faith, and are resolved to see God's plan for all.
We have voted to follow the Church of England's guidance on LGBTQIA+ issues. As christians we see God's grace as sufficient for all and are working to understand what this looks like for all people.
Whilst LGBTQIA+ issues are always a difficult issue in the church (As within the wider British context) we will always strive to understand and learn, and support where we can.
We are dedicated to the growth of the church in our area, in the country, and worldwide.
We are engaged fully with the Area (Redbridge), the Deanery (Barking), the Diocese (Chelmsford), and the Church of England as a whole. We work closely with other churches in the area, including our local Catholic, Methodist, and Baptist churches in addition to our local cluster of Church of England churches (All Saints, St Johns and St Peters) to futher the Gospel.
We celebrate diversity of expression, faith, hope, and love in the Church of England
The Church of England is full of different churches with different styles of worship services. Our style is quite traditional, reflective, and formal in comparrison to others, and we use a mixture of organ-accompanied hymns, formal liturgical music, Taize style refrains, and have short sermons.
We recognise that the services that we run, and the building we have may be new to you (Especially if you cme from a different church background) but hope that you find the peace and joy we don in our service. When we meet with others we seek to enjoy our diversity and hold fast to and focus on what we have in common.