We value …
the connections we have in the different contexts and communities where we live, work and worship.
Our vision is …
to build upon our current relationships and to love, serve and grow new ones in our communities, Diocese and world.
Firming our links with the whole Benefice community is something we can all do! So part of this value is an ongoing constant challenge for each of us to be a light in the world, to live out our Christian life through action in a way that makes other people’s lives better.
This value embraces many different ideas and initiatives some of which will involve not just our congregations but people from the whole Benefice community. We have a range of initiatives that to connect with our communities and the wider world.
Whatever skills and talents you have, they will probably be useful with this value! We’d love to hear from you if you have an enthusiasm to demonstrate the gospel through action, a desire to make a difference in our communities and those further afield and a desire to make our churches more valued by our communities.
We long to be a blessing to our village communities, celebrating with the joyful and caring for those in need.
One way we do this is through hospitality and food! We host simple get-togethers to help friendships grow and neighbourliness deepen. These often take the shape of coffee mornings, but we host lunches and other meals too in the hope of bringing people together, combating loneliness, and strengthening community.
Friendly Friday happens every first Friday of the month in Down Hatherley Village Hall, between 10am and 12pm.
We hold coffee mornings every month at Norton, Sandhurst, Staverton and The Leigh churches. See events calendar.
Film Club happens during the winter months at Sandhurst Church. See our What’s On diary.
We love serving the community in other ways too. For example, we are enthusiastic supporters of other local community initiatives, in particular:
- Gloucester Food Bank. We collect food for the Gloucester Food Bank from across the whole community. Please leave your donations at any of our churches or Nature in Art (for collection at 1pm) on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month.
- Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers. We support this vital organisation based in the City of Gloucester. www.garas.org.uk
- Gloucester City Mission continue their work in the city giving a lifeline to many people. To download their latest newsletter, click here.
** DETAILS OF OUR 2026 HARVEST COLLECTION COMING SOON! **
Last year our Harvest Collection had us ‘thinking big, giving smalls’!
In 2024 many of you were involved in our wonderful ‘Harvest of Tools’ as part of our giving thanks for our own harvest and the abundance that we enjoy. You might remember that we collected hundreds of tools to help people in Africa reap a better harvest for themselves. The charity ‘Tools with a Mission’ checked all our gifts over and made sure that all were in working order before they distributed them in communities where their impact would be transformational. As well as demonstrating our commitment to recycling and reuse and promoting environmental sustainability here at home, these tools equipped individuals elsewhere with the skills needed to completely transform their lives and communities. They also boosted people’s self-esteem and dignity, so important in all our lives.
Inspired by this, in 2025, our harvest collection was both practical and dignity-enhancing. We made a collection of items to be donated to the charity ‘Smalls for All’. They collect underwear for people in Africa and the UK who can’t afford or can’t get any. Because dignity matters.
We were delighted and grateful that 708 individual items were donated! THANK YOU ALL!
Like Tools with a Mission, they only send the best. So they collect only brand new pants and new or gently worn bras. They support charitable organisations in both Africa and the UK who are able to transport and distribute the underwear they collect to those in need. Smalls for All recently celebrated their 15th anniversary and in that time 606 of their partner organisations have distributed 2,349,155 items of underwear in 28 countries!
Plus, check out our life events page and also what’s on