About Us

What Christ Church Does

Christ Church is a family of Christians. This does not mean we think we’re perfect. It does mean that we’re trying to do our best to live as Jesus asks us to.

One of the most important things we do is worship God. We thank God for all the good things in life, and pray to God about the difficult things. Our choir and worship group help us to worship. Their music is really inspiring.

Because we love God, and think the world of Jesus, we want to tell other people about our faith. This is called evangelism. We go out into the Christ Church parish (a parish is an area a church is called to serve) and meet people. We ask them if they have anything they’d like us to pray about. We arrange special services where new people can decide to follow Jesus themselves. We’ve just written a new course so people can find out more about God and Jesus.

Jesus said the most important thing is love. So it’s really important that we care for one another. A lot of this ‘just happens’. But we also organise our caring: our Pastoral Team draws alongside people in need, to offer support.

Our loving is not just confined to Cheltenham. Christ Church works with Mission Partners looking to put the love of God into practice in other countries. We have partners in Afghanistan, Rwanda and Uganda. We paid for the building of a new church in India. Another important part of our mission is care for the homeless. Several people at Christ Church are involved with Tony’s House, which looks to provide support for homeless people in Cheltenham.

Following Jesus is a way of life we love, so we look to hand it on to children and young people. Our Sunday crèche cares for pre-school children. Scramblers is our Sunday group for infant age children – they love learning in their own way: playing, singing, and making. For children of junior age we have Explorers on a Sunday, while young people in Key Stage 3 attend Pathfinders. We also have Rainbows, Brownies and Guides.

At the other end of the age spectrum Christ Church seeks to care for elderly people. Our fortnightly Friendship Club is very popular. If someone wants to, they could spend most of Wednesday s with us. They could come to our coffee morning, attend a communion service, drink some more coffee, have a delicious lunch, listen to an interesting speaker, have tea and cake, and head home! Some people would love to come to church, but can’t now because of age. A team from Christ Church takes them holy communion at home.

Christ Church is quite a big family. At the last count there are 495 of us! No-one can know that many people. So we organise smaller groups called Home Groups. A typical home group would have around 10 people in it. They meet to read the Bible together, pray for each other, and support each other.

We love to think that our doors are wide open to anyone who wants to come. So an important part of our work is to welcome people who come for baptism, weddings and funerals. These are called the ‘occasional offices’. We think they’re really important, because they’re a way in which we get to know people who aren’t yet part of Christ Church. We hope they (and you!) come to join us.

What we believe

God made us – we are not here by chance, but loved into being by a generous creator.
When we turned away from God he did not wash his hands of us. Through the death of Jesus, God made it possible for us to be forgiven. Weak though we are, we may have a relationship with a holy God.
Those who come to God to be forgiven are then invited to become disciples of Jesus. A 'disciple' is someone who is trying to model their life on the example of Jesus - in a phrase, trying to 'live like Jesus'
Although following Jesus is often demanding, God gives us strength by his Holy Spirit to live out this high calling.
In the power of the Holy Spirit, disciples of Jesus are called to make a positive difference in the world.
When their human bodies wear out, disciples of Jesus discover that death is not the end. Because God raised Jesus from the dead, death has been defeated. God’s people enjoy eternal life with Him

For a fuller conversation about any or all of the above headings, please contact...

Anna Laszlo anna.laszlo@btinternet.com 01242 581593 or Tim Mayfield tim.mayfield@btinternet.com 01242 515983