If someone asked you what it’s like to be part of Thanington Parish Church, what would they say?

A lot of people start with the warm welcome we have received, or the sense of community which makes it feel like being part of a bigger family. Some people emphasise being connected to the past, through our historic church building and the faithful worship and service which has been offered here down the centuries. Others talk about the things we do to reach out to our community- for example, Messy Church. And we all want Thanington Parish Church to have a future. 

We have tried to sum this up in a simple vision statement: We are Thanington Parish Church: A community of worship, welcome and witness to Christ, who are learning from the past, living in the present and looking to God’s future.

Learning from the past

We can value the past and learn from the past, as for example we do each year at All Saints Day and Remembrance Sunday services. But we cannot live in the past. We can only live in the here and now. 

One thing that connects us to the past is the St Nicholas Church building, which is grade II* listed. However, an historic building also brings challenges. It needs repairs, redecoration and improvements to the facilities.  We are working on that one step at a time as we find the funds we need. At the moment, repairing the roof is the top priority and we currently have £30,000 of the £50,000 needed to start that work. (If you would like to make a donation towards this, our giving page will tell you how to do that.) 

Living in the present

We are a small but growing church, in a varied parish, with a growing population.  

We are being encouraged to worship God wholeheartedly, to pray persistently and to learn together from the Bible and work out what it means for us to follow Jesus in our everyday lives. We do all this with the help of the Holy Spirit, God's presence in the present moment. 

As well as worship on Sunday mornings, we offer a monthly lunch called CAMEO which brings people together and is popular with pensioners. On the third Sunday of the month we run Messy Church, which is great for families with primary school children. We lead a service of holy communion at  our local nursing home, Lark View Care. We also have a couple of bible-study groups, one which meets in the daytime and one which meets in the evening. 

We can’t do everything, but we do what we can with the people and resources we have. As Jesus blessed and multiplied a few loaves and fishes to feed a huge crowd of people, we are trusting God to bless and multiply what we offer for the good of our local community. 

Looking to God's future

But we must also look to the future – God’s future. When we say the Lord's Prayer, we pray ‘your kingdom come, your will be done.’  Thanington Parish Church are currently in a process of trying to work out what that looks like for us, so that we can focus on playing our part in working towards God's futre. 

• We want to increasingly be a church in which people find a place to belong, to be noticed, to be known. 

• We want to be people who follow Jesus who are growing in faith, hope, joy, and love. 

• We want to care for one another, for our community, and for God's creation.

• We want to see the church continuing to grow in number and to grow younger (on average!). 

• We want to grow leaders and eventually to create new worshipping communities around the parish. 

We want to see all of this so that more and more people can experience God's forgiving love and God's transforming power. 

What about you?

Do you live in or around Thanington? Would you like to be a part of this? 

If want to get involved and find out more, please get in touch for more info.

Rev Nick White (vicar)

We are Thanington Parish Church: A community of worship, welcome and witness to Christ, who are learning from the past, living in the present and looking to God’s future.