Everyone welcome – inclusive Christchurch

You’ll see a big green notice outside our front door which proclaims: ‘Everyone Welcome!’ We mean it…

Radical welcome

In the Autumn of 2021 we held a series of workshops to explore what we mean when we say we are a welcoming church. We thought about the people who find it easy to believe they belong – and about the people who might find church a more challenging community. In April 2023 we agreed to set up a group to listen to the perspectives of a whole range of people, and to explore how we can learn to be a more including place. We know this won’t happen immediately! But we are on a journey together.

If you would like to share your experience, or offer us some advice on how we can make church an easier place for you, please contact our minister on val.reid@methodist.org.uk

Our charter – Bee kind!

In 2022 we created a charter with three simple rules for how we behave towards one another. We consulted everyone, from the youngest to the oldest. The young people came up with our motto ‘Bee kind!’

We encourage one another

We look for the positive, and assume that everyone’s doing their best.
We take every opportunity to say thank you!

We try to understand

There may be all sorts of reasons why someone’s saying or doing something we disagree with: we try to find out what they are.
We listen carefully. We respond kindly. We respect everyone’s views.

We celebrate difference

We appreciate diversity in our community and our activities.
We value both experience and innovation.
We expect that we will all make mistakes from time to time. We forgive each other.

You can see posters about this up all over our church building. Or you can view them here.

Same sex marriage

In 2021 the Methodist Church agreed ‘God in Love Unites Us’ – a report that explores what makes for good relationships. As a result, each Methodist Church can decide whether to register their premises to conduct same sex marriages. The URC made the same decision in 2016. Christchurch, as a Methodist and URC ecumenical partnership, decided in 2022 that we would register our church for same sex marriage. So we offer a very warm welcome to couples of any gender who would like to get married in church, or who would like a blessing on a marriage or civil partnership which has taken place elsewhere. If you want to talk about getting married at Christchurch, please contact our minister on val.reid@methodist.org.uk