About Us
Valley Park is an area of housing to the west of Chandler’s Ford in southern central Hampshire, which was developed over 20 years from the early 1980s. A local church family was established here in on Trinity Eve, 1987. St Francis’ Church was built in 1990-91 and dedicated by the Bishop of Winchester on St Francis’ Day, 4th October 1991.
The Church is situated in a quiet location at the heart of the Valley Park community, on a campus site with the adjacent St Francis Church of England Aided Primary School.
St Francis’ is a ‘Single Congregation Local Ecumenical Partnership‘ involving The Church of England, The Methodist Church and The United Reformed Church.
We are : a Church of England Parish within the Eastleigh Deanery of the Anglican Diocese of Winchester; a Methodist Church within the Winchester, Eastleigh and Romsey Circuit of the Methodist Church’s Southampton District; a member church of the South West Hants Group of Churches within the Wessex Synod of the United Reformed Church; and a single congregation of Christians sharing our faith, mission and ministry together.We have a resident Anglican Minister (Rev'd. Dr. Sarah McClelland), and designated Methodist and United Reformed Church Ministers, shared with other local Methodist and URC Churches.
We strive to be a Christ-centred and prayerfully growing church family, seeking to serve our local community and the wider world.
We are also members of Churches Together in Chandler’s Ford, the ecumenical grouping of churches in the local area. Click www.ctcf.org.uk/ to read more of about this grouping and the joint ecumenical services and events which CTICF organises.
St Francis’ strives to be a family-friendly church, and we welcome Christians of all ages and denominations, as well as those exploring the Christian faith or seeking God, to worship alongside us. Mindful of the message of St Francis in his well known prayer, and of Micah’s challenge
[Micah Ch. 6, v. 8] ” …. what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God“, we seek to be conscious of the needs of our local community and the wider world.
We take safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults very seriously at St. Francis. You can access our Safeguarding Policies, practices and Safeguarding Statement from the home page of our Website: https://www.stfrancis-valleypark.org.uk/