Maybe you have come to church or you are thinking of doing so. Maybe you have prayed to ask God to bring you a sense of clarity or a sense of peace in your life.

If you would like to make a next step, why not come and have a chat?  Our friendly team of clergy and lay leaders would be happy to talk further with you, to help guide you - maybe with some reading or media to watch.  Faith isn't something that need be experienced alone - indeed, it is meant to be shared.

In fact, we believe that God has three persons: the Father, who created the universe; the Son (Jesus Christ), who was born to Mary, who died at the hands of the Roman Empire and who was resurrected; and the Holy Spirit, which remains with us all, active in us and in the world.

It’s pretty clear from reading the Gospels – the four books at the start of the New Testament that give us the details of Jesus’s life and ministry – that Jesus Christ was not only an incredible person, but that he was sent by his Father as a result of the mess that humanity had made of the world.

There are lots of opinions on exactly why Jesus had to die – perhaps it was as redemption for human sin; perhaps it was a sign of the ultimate love from God to humanity that he would even bring that level of pain upon himself, to show us just how much we are loved. However, what is clear is that Jesus, both in his life (during which he gave the world a new commandment - to love each other as we love ourselves) and in his death and resurrection, radically re-cast the relationship between God and humankind. Jesus showed us that we can all have a personal relationship with God. He showed us that God loves everyone and everything that he has made. He loves you and knows you better than you know yourself.

So, as Christians, we believe in God! We also believe that the Church is a pretty good place to get to know God. You can be a Christian on your own, but it’s hard to not have a support network around you to help you, and without this it’s also hard for you to help others in the faith. From the earliest Christians until now, faithful people have met as churches, to pray and to receive holy communion (also known as the Eucharist or sometimes as Mass). We do this, eating bread and wine, because Jesus told his followers to do so every time they met, to remember him. Sharing food and drink is also a powerful sign that Christians are bound together through God: we owe each other the love that we give ourselves.

We don’t believe that being a Christian is an easy option. It doesn’t mean that life will be easy, or that no bad things will happen. Being a Christian certainly doesn’t automatically make anyone a ‘better’ person – and there’s nothing worse than ‘holier than thou’ religious people – those who use faith to look down their noses at others. In fact, Jesus had quite a lot to say about those types! We are a group of thoroughly imperfect people who, like everyone, occasionally argue(!) Most of the time, though, we do our best to love each other and try to build up our community, to worship God and to help others.

Our parish is one that has always welcomed children and families. Through our church school and our many children’s and youth groups, we aim to be a spiritual home to people of all ages. There are lots of opportunities to make friends whatever age you are, and to be part of something that feels truly like home.

We are an Inclusive Church. This means that we affirm people of all sexualities and genders and we believe that nobody is excluded from the love of God.

We are part of the Church of England, which is founded on three things: scripture (the Bible); tradition (carrying on the wonderful traditions handed down to us and learning through the wisdom of people through the ages, in word, music and deed) and reason (not being afraid to debate things we don’t understand, or seek new ideas and interpretations). We believe that prayer is a really crucial part of faith, and we also believe that God wants everyone to actively do good in the world, for other people and for creation.

If you would like to know more, please feel free to come along, or {email_encode:jbgilder@hotmail.com,link=get in touch with James, our Rector} who would be happy to chat.

Most of us spend a lot of our lives working hard and striving to create happiness. This can lead to great achievements and successes, but equally for many, we reach a point where we start feeling that there must simply be more to life than acquiring more things, getting a nicer house or going to ever-more exotic destinations on holiday.

Sometimes in life the things that we have achieved by our own merits fail to protect us from the knocks and setbacks that can occur to us. This can leave us feeling vulnerable, making us wonder whether our own powers will ever be sufficient to achieve the true feeling of contentment that we yearn for.

For some, there may be a specific event in our lives which changes us and leaves us with spiritual questions. These events can be good, like the birth of a child, or more difficult, like the death of a loved one or a mental breakdown.

For others, we may have been introduced to faith as a child or at another time in our life, and perhaps now have a desire to reconnect.

If any of the above sounds familiar to you, or even if it doesn’t(!), maybe now is the time in your life when you want to connect, or reconnect, with the Christian faith.

As Christians, we believe that there is indeed purpose to human existence and purpose to the world. We believe that you are loved by God, whoever you are. We also believe that true happiness and contentment in life is something that humans don’t attain by themselves, however hard we try. Rather, it is found in a relationship with God and with each other through God.

Church is the place where people have come to worship God for two thousand years. At Wanstead we say prayers and sing hymns that have been shared by generations of Christians, and we join with many millions of others each week in receiving communion: the sign of God’s love for humanity and his forgiveness for the things that we get wrong in our lives. Church isn’t just a building – it’s a community of people who are definitely not perfect(!) but who ultimately are committed to journeying through life with God.

Church is a place where you can make friends, often friends for life. It’s a place where you can laugh, cry, sing, smile, pray, experience a thousand emotions, and simply be still. It’s a place where you can have space to make sense of things, where it is ok to have questions and where there will be many others who acknowledge that the answers don’t always come easily. Church is a place where you can find partners in the journey through life, and strength for the road. It’s a place where you can be challenged to love your neighbour in practical ways, and it’s a place where you can be loved for who God made you to be.

You are absolutely welcome to join us in a service, and see for yourself whether this is something you might like to take further. If you would like to find out more about what we believe, click here.

If you would like to talk more about anything, please feel free to {email_encode:jbgilder@hotmail.com,link=contact James, our Rector}.