Welcome to Saint Wilfrid Church.
Our desire to be a beacon of faith, hope and love to this part of West Sussex. In Bognor and beyond. We are working together to see lives changed, churches filled and society transformed, in the name of Jesus.
If you would like to know more about how to get involved with Saint Wilfrid, fill out this brief contact form, and we will reach out to you with more information.
We are a church family of all ages & stages.
Stay updated.
Learn more about what’s happening in the life of the Saint Wilfrid Church Family.
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9.30 AM Parish Eucharist
11 AM Family Gathering (with children’s groups) -
Learn more about current events happening at Saint Wilfrid Church.
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To stay connected with the life of our church, subscribe to the Weekly News, where you will receive important information about upcoming events and announcements in your inbox.
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The Saint Wilfrid Church podcast provides regular round-ups, notices, updates, teachings and more.
Where everyone is invited & everyone is welcome.
Get involved.
There are a number of ways to get involved with what’s happening at Saint Wilfrid Church.
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Alpha is a free course for anyone with questions about life, spirituality, and Jesus. These sessions are designed to encourage conversation and explore the basics of the Christian faith in an open, informal environment, where all questions are welcome.
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Church is more than a gathering on a Sunday. Connect Groups are the primary way in which we build community, deepen our discipleship together and offer prayer and pastoral support.
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Serving is one of our foundational practices and we have lots of opportunities that you can get involved with. Take a look at our Teams Page for current opportunities.
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If you are a follower of Jesus and have yet to enter the waters of baptism, we encourage you to take that step. The Baptism Class provides an opportunity to talk through the new identity, new family, and new mission that we have in Jesus. It also provides a great space to answer any questions you might have as you take this important step.
Seeking to understand life through the framework of the bible.
Membership pathway.
There is no formal way to join a Church of England church. Traditionally, membership is aligned to baptism, confirmation, regularly celebrating the Eucharist, and ensuring your name is placed on the Electoral Roll.
At Saint Wilfrid Church we would encourage all the above and also recognise the following might provide a helpful pathway to feeling integrated into the life of the church family.
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Before you decide to make Saint Wilfrid Church your home, we suggest you get into the rhythm of joining with us on a frequent basis:
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Church is more than a gathering on a Sunday. Connect Groups are the primary way in which we build community, deepen our discipleship together and offer prayer and pastoral support.
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If you feel ready to keep connected with us and want to find our more about us, we run a series of Newcomer Events throughout the year and we’d love for you to join us at one of these. Drop us a note and we’ll make sure your receive an invitation.
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If you are ready to integrate more fully into the life of the Saint Wilfrid Church Family, please take a moment to complete the following form. This allows you to receive our communications and signals to us your intentions of joining the family.
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If you would like to join the Electoral Roll of the parish, which entitles you to vote at our Annual Meeting, please email us.
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Each person who calls themselves part of the Saint Wilfrid Church Family are invited to commit to our Values and Practices.
We have four Foundational Values and related Practices and four Expressed Values and related Practices.
You are welcome here.
About.
Values & Practices.
We have four Foundational Values:
Dependence on God
Love & Humility
Generosity & Stewardship
Commitment & Community
These are supported by four Foundational Practices:
Prayer
Serving
Giving
Attending
We also have four Expressed Values:
Compassion & Justice
Proclamation of the Word
Encounter with God
Evangelism
These are supported by four Expressed Practices:
Supporting the Marginalised
Teaching & Preaching
Worship & Communion
Witness & Mission
Parish & Affiliations
Saint Wilfrid is the Parish Church of Bognor, on the South Coast of the UK. We are deeply invested in our local community and understand our parish as our primary mission field.
We seek to be a blessing beyond our borders and to make a significant impact for the Kingdom of God across this part of West Sussex.
We are a Church of England church in the Diocese of Chichester and part of the HTB Network.
Approach.
In addition to our gathered acts of prayer and worship, which include our Sunday Services, we tend to understand ourselves in two ways: who we are (we call this our Communities) and what we do (we call this our Initiatives).
Nearly everything that we do is led by our amazing team of volunteers. They are ably assisted by some paid support staff. In addition, we have an incredible group of Spiritual Trustees who prayerfully work with the vicar.
Doctrine & Belief.
Saint Wilfrid Church has members who hold a range of views on a range of subjects. We seek to live together well, in the love of Christ.
As we navigate through the disagreement, we draw on the teaching of St. Augustine, who once taught the following: “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In everything, love.”
The beliefs we absolutely share as essential are:
The Bible
We affirm the authority of Scripture and commit ourselves to live under its timeless and life-giving guidance.The Gospel
We proclaim that through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, God restores humanity to relationship and wholeness with Him.Salvation
We believe that salvation by grace is essential for restoring our relationship with God and with one another.
Finances.
We seek to be good stewards of all that our generous heavenly Father has first given to us.
Our income is received from the regular and planned giving of our Church Family members, from one-off gifts and from grants. We benefit from the the Gift Aid Scheme and we are also able to generate income from some investment returns and the rental of our building.
See our GIVING PAGE for more info.
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The Clergy of the Parish are ordained ministers of the Church of England. The Vicar of Saint Wilfrid church is Joel Mennie, he is sometimes referred to as Senior Leader or Senior Pastor.
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The Church Wardens have a particular role in supporting the Vicar in the leadership of the church. They act as a listening ear and where needed, a critical voice.
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The Standing Committee has delegated authority to act on behalf of the PCC in key decision making and work with the Vicar and Wardens in prayerfully discerning vision and strategy.
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The PCC are the spiritual trustees of the Church Family and formal act as charitable trustees. They are those from amongst the church family who lead the way in ensuring that the initiatives and communities of the church are aligned to the vision of the church, and that the values and practices are embedded across the church.
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Our initiative leads oversee our initiatives. Some of these are paid and some are volunteers. They help to shape vision and strategy and work with [other] volunteers to ensure the initiatives run well.
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Our community leads oversee our communities. Some of these are paid and some are volunteers. They help to shape vision and strategy and work with [other] volunteers to ensure the communities run well.
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Our Staff Team offer support to the volunteers who help to oversee and run our initiatives and communities.