A note from Archie (Vicar) and Sam Coates

Church is changing. In the light of the latest Government and Church of England guidelines, we are making plans to do church differently for the foreseeable future. As of now, all our regular gatherings (Sundays, Groups and Courses) will no longer meet face to face – and instead wherever possible, they will move to online platforms. Tune into our Sunday Check In here.

Our mission is unchanged – we want to reach our city with the good news of Jesus, see the church revitalised, and society transformed – and in this new season, we have the opportunity to do this in fundamentally different ways. We have always said that Church is not the building, but the people. And now we get to prove it.

We will all be wondering how we best respond to this situation as the family of God in our city. 

For us, church will be about THREE things:

PRAY

The apostle Paul encourages us to ‘pray continually’ (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and we will use this season to pray like never before – for one another, our friends and family, frontline workers, carers, scientists, national and local leaders, our communities, and our nation. Some of us will have unprecedented space to pray – whether for 20 seconds at the washbasin, or in longer periods of self-isolation. We will be setting up simple platforms to mobilise everyone to pray – bringing forward our 24/7 prayer campaign, which you sign up for here .

For all things prayer, please visit our dedicated PRAY page.

CONNECT

We can't gather face to face at this time, but we believe this is an exciting opportunity for us to connect more deeply, using the support of technology.
We will meet online every week for our Sunday Check in at 10.30am (you can view from 10.15am) and the video will remain available for the rest of the day. Click here to view.

In support, we will also be moving our Groups online, enabling them to meet virtually. Our Groups have always been the primary way we care for one another in our neighbourhoods – emotionally, spiritually and practically, and this will be all the more so in this difficult season. We feel strongly that, right now, Groups are going to be our most important gatherings.

For all of the details on our Sunday Check In and to sign up to a Group please visit our CONNECT page.

HELP

We want to be at the forefront of caring for those in need in our church community and in our city. This will include the homeless, the vulnerable, the elderly, those without family or friends to support and people in need of financial and practical support (both inside and outside the church). We are developing new ways to reach and care for those in need in our community whilst considering safety for everyone involved. We are working to keep our regular ministries running, but because we can’t do them in the same gathered way we’re used to, we’re going to need to be creative, flexible and sacrificial – and mobilise many more of us, willing to feed the homeless, make a phone call, give comfort and save lives in many and varied ways.

Please visit our dedicated HELP page.

It will take time to get all this right, and we’re working with a lot of moving parts (e.g. not knowing who might have to self-isolate at any moment, when and what the next government guidelines will be, or where the greatest areas of need and opportunity will turn out to be). We also recognise it’s a worrying time for many people, and would encourage you with the words of Psalm 46 which tell us that, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear.”

Forgive us for not being “impressive”, but what we can promise you is lots of love and bags to do – and the greatest growth opportunity we can imagine: to grow through weakness, in faith, and spiritual power. We’re actually excited for this next phase of our journey together at St Peter’s and what God will do, so thank you, as ever, for being part of this great adventure. 

With love,

Archie and Sam

Please note, we will add any further updates to this page.