St Paul's Church and Community Centre

The Mission and Vision of St Paul’s Church and Community Centre

St Paul’s Church and Community Centre exists to proclaim the love of God in word and deed, in the context of its parochial church ministry in the Church of England. This is summarized best in the Anglican marks of mission.

St Paul’s PCC has adopted a framework to support and enable its core mission. The first is ‘the Four Cs’– four areas, each with their own sub-committee chaired by a trustee, which relate to four aspects of the church’s life: Congregation, Compassion, Culture and Commerce.

St Paul’s also has two operational committees: Finance and Maintenance.

Below is a fuller explanation of the 4cs.

The ‘C’ of Congregation‘

'Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and all your strength.’ (Mark 12:30-31)

To learn together what it means to be God’s people, shaped by the Christian story, in this time and in this place.

The Christian faith is not a solo religion, but one that is defined by gathering. The Greek word ecclesia (which we translate as the church), means the assembly, originally the assembly of citizens of the Greek state. To be a Christian is to be called into relationship with God, and with others. The church is not defined by its building, but by the people who regularly gather there to
worship.

The Sunday gathering is, therefore, a focal point of the week, when the community in its diversity assembles around the Lord’s Table: a sign of the abundant love of God poured out for us in Jesus. The Bible is read and the ‘Word’ is opened for us by a variety of preachers as we seek to become people who learn to discern God’s word for our age. Children and young people are nurtured through Sunday groups and additional activities.

Christian discipleship is fed and nurtured not just through our Sunday gathering, but through mid-week prayer groups, study groups, and active service. The whole people of God are encouraged faithfully to live out their vocations inside and outside
the church in varied ways and in many contexts.

Pastoral care is given and received by all members and the ministry of reconciliation, healing and prayer is offered. Ministry to those who are housebound, or who are in care homes, is also shared by the congregation. After a period of preparation, new members are welcomed through baptism and confirmation. Wedding and funeral ministry remains a core part of parish ministry. We are fortunate to have a church primary school where Christian learning is enabled, and children are involved in Christian worship.

Eco Church guides our life and decisions in relation to eco care, and we seek tobuild on our Silver Eco Award success.

The Inclusive Church Group works to ensure that we are an accessible and inclusive space for all.

Target:

To be an exemplary inclusive church, offering inspiring worship, rooted in the Anglican tradition and engaging with the world in prophetic ways. To be a growing community, in number, in faith and in the depth of our spirituality.

Resource: A full-time incumbent, aself-supporting curate (until Jan 2027), a ministry team, part time community musician, ordinands in training, the whole people of God.

Finance: The congregation seeks to pay its parishshare each year through its giving and to give a portion of its income to charities at home and overseas.

Tell. Pray. Worship. Care. Flourish. Learn.

The ‘C’ of Compassion

‘God is love and all who live in love, live in God, and God lives in them.’ (1 John 4:16)

1. To build community through a ministry of hospitality and service.
2. To challenge injustice and work for reconciliation.
3. To model kingdom values (love, generosity, gentleness, peace, forgiveness).
   

At St Paul’s we aim to show God’s compassionate love, especially to those who for whatever reason are marginalised, vulnerable, in need, or living with poor mental health, or physical disabilities. Responding to the call of God who has a bias to the poor, we seek to embody that bias in the programmes that we run. Such a bias to the poor is not about the church being a service provider, but
rather a community that recognises its own vulnerability and is therefore able to sit with others in theirs’.*

Target: To build a loving community that flows from our faith in God, enabling and empowering others, providing a space to call home to the vulnerable and those in need. To draw all into love of and relationship with God.

Resource :A part-time Community Development Worker and a large team of volunteers.

Finance: Grant funding for our employee; plus small grants to support our projects + Fairbite funding. Contribution to food and outings are made by our guests.

Serve. Open. Flourish. Tell. Challenge. Care

* “If church communities could recognise their own vulnerability, conceiving ofthemselves as ‘neighbour’ rather than ‘host’, and instead of taking a serviceprovider posture, adopting an attitude of mutual respect, then there may behope to rebuild the relationship.” From: https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/uncategorised/rethinking-bias-to-the-poor

The ‘C’ of Culture

‘Inthe beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’ (John 1: 1-5)

Toenable creative engagement with the Christian story though drama, art, music, and other creative media.

The Christian story encompasses the whole of life, from the first act of creation to the gift of life everlasting in the new creation. Art has the potential, in all its forms, to be an expression of God’s creative energy, mirrored in creation, whether its religious themes are explicit or not. Art at St Paul’s seeks to be expansive andgenerative, enabling the widest range of people to encounter the story of God through the creative arts. In telling the Christian story through art, St Paul’s aims to provide compelling moments of revelation and epiphany, as well as speaking to the range of human emotion and experience.

Target: To support a programme of art and creativity that helps people express and explore the Christian faith in innovative ways.

Resource: Currently our curate chairs thiscommittee and works with others committed to the arts. Small annual budget (1K).

Finance: The cultural programme seeks to coverits own costs, and on some occasions to raise money for the church, or other
charitable causes.

Flourish. Notice. Live. Challenge. Open

The‘C’ of Commerce

‘Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, for ever and ever. Yours,O Lord, are the greatness, the ^power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might;and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all.’ 1 Chronicles 29: 10-12

To be good stewards of all that we have inherited, working to ensure that our assets are used to enable the furtherance of God’s kingdom.

In the Book of Common Prayer, at the offertory, the minister is invited to say the words, ‘All things come from you, and of your own do we give you’ (1 Chr 10:14). In so doing we are reminded that all of Christian life is marked by gift and thankfulness. Christian communities can often be nervous talking about money, or about being engaged in business. There is a sense that somehow all
money is corrupted. The Bible is clear that love of money is the root ofmany evils, and in our commercial operations we must always be alert to the temptation to make money the goal or master. At St Paul’s we engage in commerce in order to be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us by the faithful Christians who have served God in this place before us. And we do so in ways that reflect our Christian ethical commitments.

To this end, St Paul’s many rooms are hired out 6 days a week (but not on Sundays, the Christian sabbath). The money from the lettings enables the PCC to employ centre staff to manage the business and operational needs of the church. The income from lettings also enables the PCC to meet the day-to-day running costs of St Paul’s and at times to subsidize the parish share. Centre staff also support the other three aspects of the church life through enabling the church to be open each day, through operational management, grant fundraising, and marketing of St Paul’s more generally.

Target: To cover our day to day running costs, the core staff team, and if possible
additional funds to support the church’s mission. To communicate the love of
God to those who come into our building as customers, through the ways we
manage our business, and how we present our sacred space to visitors.

Resource: Centre and Asst Centre Manager; our building and location.

Finance: Commerce brings in funds for the church’s mission.

Open. Share. Tell.

PCC of St Paul’s, February 2026