Our Mission

We are inclusive Anglican churches where you are always welcome; we are places for people of all faiths and none to be still, places to come close to God, places to reflect and be peaceful and to be, Christian places to worship together and places to enjoy the company of others.

We dedicate our lives to the love and praise of God and the love and service of our neighbour, seven whole days, not one in seven.

Through our baptism each of us has a ministry in the body of Christ and we encourage each other to find and exercise that ministry

God accepts each of us as we are and we in turn accept each other and welcome all who come to share our worship. We believe that, in Christ, there are no divisions and we seek to break down barriers between us and to celebrate the richness of the diverse and multi-cultural world-wide Anglican church of which we are part.

With all our faults and weaknesses, we are a family and a home, offering friendship and support, open to all who live in our parish and beyond.

May God’s blessing be upon you.

“God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are. Not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility…this is for God the ground of unfathomable love” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Our three churches are Inclusive Churches. We affirm that the Church’s mission, in obedience to Holy Scripture, is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every generation. We acknowledge that this is Good News for people regardless of their sex, race or sexual orientation. We believe that, in order to strengthen the Gospel’s proclamation of justice to the world, and for the greater glory of God, the Church’s own common life must be justly ordered. To that end we call on our Churches to live out the promise of the Gospel; to celebrate the diverse gifts of all members of the body of Christ; and in the ordering of our common life to open the ministries of deacon, priest and bishop to those so called to serve by God, regardless of their sex, race or sexual orientation.

Come follow Christ…in the footsteps of Saint Chad

We do this by making God’s love real:

• Love for God
• Love for each other
• Love for our communities

At St Giles’, St Mary’s and St Bartholomew’s, we believe in connecting to God, to each other and to the world. We remember this using a triangle, which reminds us that all three must be held together in balance. Focus too much on one aspect, or neglect one aspect, and it falls apart – we cease to be a loving church.

UP is about connecting to God…

• worship, prayer, praise, the Eucharist, listening to God’s voice through the Bible, silence and our daily experiences, Sunday worship
• being God-focussed and prayerful and receiving blessings and encounter through the sacrament, especially the Eucharist
• connecting to God was something Jesus never went a day without. And it’s what he expects of his people: the greatest commandment (part 1) is to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength’
• before his departure, Jesus’ final commission to his disciples (at the end of Matthew 28) is to ‘Go into the world…teaching, making disciples and baptising…in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’

IN is about connecting to each other…

• community, friendships, discipleship, fellowship, teaching, sharing meals, tea and cake, home groups, Lent courses, Sunbeams, Messy Church, choir, bell-ringing and social events
• being welcoming to one another
• connecting to each other was a part of daily life for Jesus’ disciples. He invested in close friendships and expects it of his people: the greatest commandment (part 2) is to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’
• the great commission – ‘Go into all the world!’  Doing what – teaching, making disciples and baptising!

OUT is about connecting to the world…

• mission, evangelism, justice, the villages, people hearing Good News and finding faith, faith courses, Sunbeams and Messy Church, Lent lunches, pastoral team, whist for pleasure, Fairtrade, Council for Christian and Jews, support for Lichfield foodbank, weddings, baptisms, funerals, civic service
• being welcoming and outward-looking
• when Jesus said ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’, someone asked ‘and who is my neighbour?’. And how did Jesus answer them? With a story about a Samaritan – the ‘others, the people ‘out there’ are your neighbours
• in his great commission, Jesus said ‘Go’! Where – into all the world!

We support the Armed Forces Covenant with our friends at DMS Whittington

The Armed Forces Covenant sets out the relationship between the nation, the government and the armed forces. It recognizes that the whole nation has a moral obligation to members of the armed forces and their families, and it establishes how they should expect to be treated.

The Covenant’s two principles are that:

• the armed forces community should not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services
• special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most, such as the injured and bereaved

The Covenant exists to redress the disadvantages that the armed forces community may face in comparison to other citizens, and to recognise sacrifices made.

The Armed Forces Covenant is supported by the Community Covenant and the Corporate Covenant. The Community Covenant encourages local communities to support the armed forces community in their area and promote public understanding and awareness. DMS, or Defence Medical Services, is our local ‘community’ based around Whittington barracks.