Openly evangelical, gently charismatic in theology, with a dose of liberal openness. By ‘liberal’ we mean we are generous, seek to be culturally relevant, and open to truth from surprising places and people, and realise we don’t have all the answers.

We are the present stewards of a 900 year old priory church and want to maintain the monastic tradition of daily prayer, weekly worship, hospitality, healing, learning and study, welcome for the stranger and marginalised – basically doing what Jesus did, in a way which honours the past but serves the present.

We are intentional about outreach and encouraging people to become disciples of Jesus. The Alpha Course is our main Christian basics course. We like the principles in James Mallon’s book, ‘Divine Renovation’ as a model of renewal and good church practice.

We are a congregation of about 350 adults and around 40 children and young people (not all attend at once, or even the same service!) Like many other Anglican congregations, we are more on the ‘mature’ side in age, but are getting younger as new folk join us. We are slowly growing in numbers, and we hope in spiritual maturity and love. We’d love you to come and help us, and to see if we can help you.

“We are pilgrims on a journey,

fellow travellers on the road;

we are here to help each other

walk the mile and bear the load.”

The parish of Portchester: St Mary is committed to the safeguarding of children, young people and adults. We follow the House of Bishops guidance and policies and have our own Parish Safeguarding Officer(s), PSOs. The Diocese of Portsmouth’s safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contacts for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor (DSA) who advise our PSOs. If you are concerned that a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact the DSA. If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority Children or Adults Services.