Woosehill Church is a Local Ecumenical Partnership church, often abbreviated to LEP. For us, this means we are both Methodist and Anglican, and our outlook and our pattern of worship reflect this shared heritage. We are one congregation, and people of all and any denomination are welcome at all our services.
Since 2013, our Church has operated under the concept of ‘Alternating Ministry’, and our current minister, Rev’d Cara Smart, is a priest in the Anglican Church. This style of alternating ministry means that, across the month, we have services mainly taken by Rev’d Cara but with a monthly service by Rev’d Wes Hampton, our Methodist minister, as well as regular input from the Rector of St.Pauls, Rev’d Sam Tanna-Korn, and occasionally other local Methodist and Anglican Lay Preachers.
There is something very special about being an LEP and worshipping and ministering ecumenically. We believe that though it is undoubtedly harder work sometimes, being open to both denominations and traditions and how we balance them both, makes us better Christians. At the heart of all we do is a desire to ‘be Woosehill’ together. To come together and worship God, to spread the love of Christ, to serve our community, to grow in our own faith, to live out a calling that stems from God’s grace and reflects that in every street and neighbourhood. Compromise and consideration help us to listen and to slow down, to focus on what it means for us to be disciples, and what values are important for us as a church. Something which our Mission Statement sums up:
Our Mission
“The Church on Woosehill aims to further Christ’s kingdom in our community. With God’s help we seek to nurture and develop faith and spiritual growth through Christian teaching, commitment to prayer, a deepening relationship with God, inspiring worship and caring for one another. We will endeavour to maintain an open, loving, enabling environment to encourage more active involvement of a growing Church family. Guided by the Holy Spirit we will identify and utilise our resources. So equipped, we seek to serve our community more effectively, sharing the love of Jesus and raising the awareness of our presence on Woosehill.”
For more information on the history of our church: click here.
For Parish information: click here.
For Circuit information: click here.