Welcome to JohnPaul Parish!
Hi – we are a friendly Anglican Parish with two churches: St Paul’s (closer to the town centre) and St John’s (on the outskirts of Accrington). Having recently merged – and welcomed our new vicar Amanda – we are enthusiastic to see the Kingdom of God grow in both our church family and our local community
We are very much a community oriented and loving church, passionate to continue building our church family through prayer, a love for God, and a genuine desire to be involved in the community we all feel called to serve. We hold on to a real hope that with God’s help and guidance, we can be the people He wants us to be, in and around Accrington. Every person is important to, and valued by God, and as such, they are valued by and important to us
Meeting Together – not just in church!
We believe in the need for fellowship, and the importance of meeting together to learn about God and understand His will for us all individually and corporately. Every person matters to the loving God we follow, and it would be our desire to make that a real and constant theme in our lives at home and work, in the life of the church and in our community
During the week, we have various meetings: Busy Bees toddlers’ group each Friday, coffee mornings, a Dominos club, Mother’s Union, and the St Paul’s Keep Fit group. At the heart of our churches are four Connect groups that meet in homes for prayer, fellowship, food and Bible study; they include a Men’s group and a day-time group. We also have a mid-week communion on the third Tuesday of each month
Community Links
At both churches we have strong links with our local church schools, which means we have thriving groups for children (outside of the main church service) on Sundays. At St John’s there is a children’s group three times a month. At St Paul’s we have launched a new community called Families@5 which meets twice a month
We are committed to our work in the local community and many of our congregation are Governors in the local church schools. We have regular baptisms, funerals and weddings and seek to find ways to share the love of God in our community like litter picking, Jubilee celebrations, Knit and Natter, coffee mornings, church fairs and community lunches. We are constantly challenged to look outwards and are seeking to show the love of God to those suffering from loneliness, bereavement and mental health issues as a result of the pandemic
At St John’s the church is used by the school for Breakfast and After school clubs and both churches are used for services at key festivals, prize giving, carol concerts and educational visits led by the Vicar. The church is used by the wider Community for Remembrance Sunday, for Uniform organisations, for a local choir, a yoga group and a local walking group, as well as numerous children’s parties, owing to the space and facilities. We also support three charities each year: International, national and local. We have supported World Vision, Christians against Poverty and Accrington Foodbank over the last two years
The Bible, Holy Spirit and Prayer
We take God’s word, the Bible, seriously, and recognise the importance of allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and prompt us in all we seek to do in the name of Jesus. We have re-introduced the monthly prayer meeting and a Church of England prayer initiative called ‘Thy Kingdom Come’. We hope to re-introduce prayer ministry in each of our churches
The Gifts
We endeavour to recognise the many and varied gifts given to each person, and we want to strive to help each of us to identify and develop our gifts so that the whole church might be build up and grow in maturity
Church for All
As a church family, we realise that many people treasure the heritage and traditions of the past, but we also understand the importance of making a living God real and relevant to current and future generations. We seek to encourage EVERYONE in the way we mix both old and new in our worship patterns. At present St Paul’s has two Sundays with a more traditional Communion service and more traditional people go there from both churches. While those with families from St Paul’s tend to go to the bi-monthly Families@5. Check our online rota to see which services are on which dates. All services, including Communion, tend to be more family oriented at St John’s
Whichever form of worship you prefer, our prayer is that, when attending any of our services, you feel the presence and power of God
We can ensure a warm and friendly welcome to all people, with no pressure whatsoever. Our only aim is for you to find peace, challenge and joy, when visiting our church family