Rectory Road 

Rochford 

Essex 

SS41UG 

About Us

We are a family centered church, where we see coming to faith and growing in a deeper understanding of our relationship with Christ as central. As such we are all on a journey of developing our relationships. It does not matter which age range you are a part of. On each and every Sunday you will recieve a warm welcome and a relaxed informal atmosphere, where everyone can learn more about the reality and revelance of God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son and the Power of the Holy Spirit.

We are a group of ordinary, local people who are learning to love and trust one another under God's rule. We are a church of people from all walks of life, meeting together to worship God and to celebrate our relationship with him. We are all different but we have one thing in common – we are all trying to follow Jesus Christ. We do not think of ourselves as better than others. In fact, we can't understand why God loves us – we simply know He does.

Why not come and join us one Sunday morning? Service times and events are listed on the menu above.    

 

 

We have two Sunday services to choose from:

  • 10.30am, - a large and lively service with lots of groups for children and young people, including a crèche.
  • 6.00pm, - generally a more intimate service.

  • We endeavour to recognise and welcome all first-time visitors, but please make yourself known as a visitor at the welcome desk in the foyer, or speak to one of the stewards on the door. If you’d rather stay anonymous to start with, just come in—there’s safety in numbers. One of the leaders will be on the door after the service, so you have another chance to introduce yourself then, once you’ve (hopefully) established that we are a reasonable bunch of people after all.

    Here are some things you probably want to know, especially if you are not a regular church-goer:

    Structure

    The services are reasonably informal but generally follow a familiar structure. We don’t use an equivalent to the Church of England service book. There are no fixed texts, with the occasional exception of the Lord’s Prayer, and we usually close the service with the Grace. No-one will expect you to know these.

    Communion

    Communion is usually towards the begining of the service on the first Sunday in the Evening and third Sunday in the morning when it is an all age communion with the children taking part.  We do not place any restrictions on those taking part. You do not need to be christened, confirmed or baptised; you just need to have a relationship with Jesus. Only you know if that is the case:  We go to one of four stations around the church to receive the bread and the wine. We encourage everyone to join in. If you are unsure or would prefer to receive a blessing then just ask those serving. No-one will think anything of it.

    Collection/Offering

    We  don't take a collection, or offering, but encourage  regular attenders to be active in the financial matters of the church. We are not centrally funded: the finances are the responsibility of church members. Many members arrange their giving via standing orders We bring the Offering bag to the front of the church as an act of worship  

Music

If you’ve only attended “traditional” church services, you may be surprised to see a variety of musicians at our services, from a simple piano and ’cello to a full rock band. The songs we use vary from the traditional hymns to more modern worship songs.

We have a video projector and large screen, onto which the song words are projected, so you should have no difficulty keeping up. Our congregation has a wide range of musical ability—so if you can’t sing or don’t know the tune, you won’t be the only one…

Sermons

Our sermons  often make full use of the church’s media equipment, with illustrations and photographs as appropriate. We tend to run a series of sermons across several weeks: if you happen to come in  the middle, and want to catch up on what you missed, our sermons are available on DVDs.

All of our teaching is rooted in the Bible. We primarily use the NIV (New International Version), but dip into other versions on occasion. Copies of the NIV are available in the church to borrow for the service, so don’t worry if you don’t have one. Some people prefer to listen rather than read, anyway.

Children

We have lots of children in our church, for more details of our facilities for babies and children, see this page.

Disabled facilities

The church is set up to allow for wheelchair access, and disabled toilet facilities are available. A loop system is fitted for those with hearing-aids. If you have any other questions, just ask.

Footnotes

The Lord’s Prayer

When we use the Lord’s Prayer in services, this is the version we use. This is about the only use of old-fashioned English in the church, primarily because of familiarity—it’s the version most people know.
    Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
    Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
    Give us this day our daily bread,
    And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
    Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,
    For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
    For ever and ever. Amen.

 

The Grace

We close many of our services with the Grace, which is taken from the closing of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians :
    The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
    be with us all, now and for ever. Amen.