ST PAUL'S in New England
St Paul's is situated at the heart of the busy New England area. Car drivers take 1st exit at the B&Q roundabout off Bourges Boulevard and St Paul's will be right in front of you with Salvation Army to the left. Catch a No 1 bus that goes from Orton to Werrington and it drops you off a few yards from the Church whichever direction you are coming from. A very multi cultural area with lots of small but busy eating places and cafe's; numerous little food shops such as Julia's Polish Shop; ones with Halal meat; Lithuanian restaurant; lots of barbers and hairdressers; huge Thistlemoor Rd Medical Centre; a Football League sports ground; Boulevard Club; large retail outlets eg B & Q, ; Matalan, Curry's, Costa Coffee Drive Thru and Wendy's Drive Thru; car maintenance garages; Taxi businesses. The list is endless. The Church together with the Church Hall and Vicarage are all on a 'traffic island' with a one way system going round it.We have a car park and an area of greenery. Nearby is a large recreation ground with basket ball courts; outdoor fitness equipment and children's swings area.
There is a very large Infant & Junior Academy-Fulbridge and another large Academy a short distance away called Gladstone. We have visits to the church from both schools twice a year. For he last 14 years the ZigZag Nursery have rented the Church Hall Mon to Fri and we have a close partnership with them.
St Paul's does not have a big membership but there is a core of very committed prayerful Christians alongside others who do what they can in support of what we believe God wants us to do at this time. The Church leadership together with a few others meet on the 1st Tues of each month to pray and on another week meet as a PCC to discuss other issues such as finance and the looking after of the buildings, etc as well as planning and vision. Our weekly services are a Eucharist at 10.30am on Sundays and on Wednesdays a said Eucharist at 10.30am.. Refreshments after the services. The Eucharist and The Word are both very important and this is reflected by the fact that our two services are both Eucharistic but also 'relaxed' and open to God's Holy Spirit guidance.
On the 1st Weds of each month we also have a prayer time after the refreshments which is based on our LYCIG (Leading your Church into Growth ) principles. On the first Saturday of each month at 10.30am we usually have a BREAKFAST in Church which the men called THE SHED as they meet together in one part of the Church and the ladies and children meet in another part of the church to share together. Ideal time for friends to be invited to come along and enjoy a relaxing chat with food.
Each month there is an afternoon group called OASIS, who meet in the Church and come to relax, chat, have tea/coffee and cake. Several regulars are widows or people who live on their own and are mostly retired.
Evening study groups are held regularly including courses to help understand more about the Christian faith.
We are in partnership with Through Faith Mission (TFM) and 2/3 times a year engage in specific outreach in the community with evangelists from TFM and church members.
Church members support a local Foodbank by bringing food items to church e each week; often homeless people visit the church and we give what support we can (i.e. warm coat, food, etc)