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WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR
St Swithun's is a community of Christians who seek to follow Jesus by worshipping God and loving their neighbours.
Here are some of the ways we try to do this:
Worship and Prayer
At the heart of the Church's life is our worship. We do this particularly on Sundays, but also at other times through weekday and special services. And we encourage all our members to pray regularly, whether on their own or with other Christians.
Christian Education
Teaching about the faith is a crucial part of what we do.
Each year we look to run an 'Exploring Christianity' course for enquirers and new believers.
'Growing Together in Christ' is another important course, aimed at helping established Church members to deepen their faith. There is a Parish Bible Study Group and special courses are run during Lent and Advent. Christian Education of children is a key emphasis of our work, through Sunday School, the 'Holy Club' at St Swithun's school, and occasional Children's Workshop activity days.
Fellowship and Service
St Swithun's is a place to meet and support each other. There is the opportunity to chat over coffee after our main Sunday service and we enjoy a glass of wine at major Church festivals and special occasions.
The 'Drop in Cafe' in the Rectory Room opens its doors to all comers on Wednesdays and Saturdays providing warmth, welcome and reasonably priced refreshments.
We also seek to serve others through bereavement care, healing prayer and pastoral visits in time of need.
Part of God's world, and the worldwide Church St Swithun's isn't a Church on its own. We are part of God's people throughout the world, along with Christians everywhere.
We belong to the Church of England and within St Albans Diocese.
We love to cooperate with Christians of other traditions, and play an active part in Churches Together in Sandy.
And we seek to do our part in serving God's world, through prayer and action; for example raising funds for The Leprosy Mission, Christian Aid and The Children's Society.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Christians believe and trust in God.
We are here because he created us, and he made us to enjoy a relationship with him.
We can enter that relationship by believing and trusting in Jesus, who died on the cross to overcome the power of sin, and who rose from death to set us free.
Our Christian life and faith is sustained by God's gift of the Holy Spirit, which fills believers with love, joy and hope, and gives us gifts to serve God in the Church and in the world.
Christians believe in a God who is a Trinity: of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We share much in common with other people of faith, but believe that God has uniquely revealed himself in Jesus Christ, and that he calls us to live as Jesus' disciples in the world.
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