Trinity-Henleaze United Reformed Church
About us: a church exploring what Jesus’ love means for our lives, community and world
We worship and pray.
As a church, you will find us open and welcoming to all when we meet at 10.30 each Sunday. There is provision for junior church and creche too. And we share Holy Communion once a month. Read more below.
It sometimes seems that churches are fuelled by coffee, tea and cake! We are no exception - and we invite anyone to join us at our twice-weekly sessions in the coffee bar. Fancy some company? Just drop in for a chat.
We meet, eat and share.
We work to help our community and the wider world.
Through activities we run, through the local organisations we work with, and through our engagement with Christian Aid and other charities, we seek to show God's love in action.
Trinity-Henleaze is part of the South-Western Synod of the United Reformed Church.
Local management of the church is in the hands of the Elders, who are trustees. Elders are elected by a Church Meeting, which also appoints voluntary officers including the Church Secretary and Treasurer.
Revd Neil Thorogood, Minister
Chris Hyland,
Church Secretary
Martin Ashford,
Church Treasurer
Carla Tobias,
Church Administrator
Read more about our church
.
Send us a message - Contact us
Worship
See this week's readings in the Common Lectionary
Every Sunday at 10:30am we have our main act of worship. Normally services last about an hour. We livestream and record to our You Tube channel for those who can’t make it in person. Our Minister is the Revd Neil Thorogood and he often leads our worship. But we sometimes also have visiting preachers or local worship leaders. Our worship style is relaxed with traditional and contemporary hymns and worship songs, readings from the Bible, opportunities for prayer and a sermon applying the Bible to life today. Often the organ supports our singing, but we also have musicians who can lead us. On the first Sunday of each month we share the bread and wine of Communion with everyone invited to receive (members or not of any church). On fourth Sundays, our 'Faith in Focus' services are a less formal and more creative opportunity to worship in different ways. And at 5pm on fourth Sundays we have a Taize-style reflective service. We would love to have more families with children of different ages worshipping with us. As part of our regular Sunday services we have a creche so that parents or carers can safely leave their youngest to have fun whilst relaxing into our worship. Most Sundays, after starting the service all together with the adults, our older children and young people meet for their own group to share time exploring faith together through all sorts of activities. Some people worry about having to 'pay up' when they go to church. There is no pressure to make any donation and we do not take a collecting plate round. But there is a bag available at the door for anyone wishing to donate as they come to worship. And we have a monthly voluntary retiring collection for a good cause.
Prayer
Every Friday, as part of a regular Drop-In session, anyone who wants to can join with others in another part of our building for a relaxed time of prayer, from 10:30 to around 11 am. In this 'Thought for the Day' session we share concerns about situations to pray for. Some of our members take it in turn to lead these prayers and reflections. And then we join in with the refreshments. Sometimes it is good simply to find a quiet oasis in the midst of our busy lives; time to stop, rest, contemplate; pray and simply be. Whenever our church is open, for example for Tea and Chat on Tuesday afternoons, anyone is welcome to come and sit quietly in our beautiful sanctuary. You don’t have to do anything and, although someone will always be around in case you want to talk, you don’t need to do so. Simply come and let the space and God’s welcome enfold you.
Bible study and home group
We’re always finding fresh opportunities to gather for conversations about life, faith and everything. We want to grow as followers of Jesus, able to ask our big and little questions. We love the Bible and want to explore it more. We have a home group that meets fortnightly on Thursday evenings, with sessions led by some of those participating. Our Minister periodically offers Bible studies or other group sessions that are always advertised in the church. In one recent group we studied the book of Isaiah, in another the theme was prayer and how to pray. Ask us what's coming up next!
Time for a cuppa and a chat?
They say 'the family that eats together stays together', and our church is a big family that enjoys sharing food and drink! Nothing wrong with that, Jesus did the same. There is always an opportunity for refreshments and conversation after Sunday worship. And twice a week we open our doors to anyone who wants to pop in for a chat and a hot drink. There is regularly cake as well, depending upon who has been baking! 'Tea and Chat' is from 2:00 to 4:00pm every Tuesday. And then there's another Drop-In from 10:00am to 12 noon every Friday. Some people stay for the whole time. Others just enjoy being with us for a while before they go on their way. We don't mind, we're there for you!
At the heart of Henleaze
We are a community organisation and a church that wants to be at the heart of our community. And we work with others to deliver that aim, including neighbouring churches such as St Peter's or partner organisations such as the amazing Flamingo Chicks. There are two successes that deserve special mention. First, we helped create the Bristol Child Contact Centre which runs in our building, enabling separated parents to safely meet their children. This plays a vital role, even more so now that there are only two such centres providing this service in the city and Henleaze is the only free one. Second, our Singing to Remember group supports people living with dementia, using the joy and power of music to spark memories and boost well-being. It meets on first, third and fifth Thursdays in the Bradbury Hall from 2:00 pm. Singing to Remember was awarded a BDAA (Bristol Dementia Action Alliance) Silver award for its work.
Responding to a world of need
There is so much in our world that is wrong. As Christians, we are acutely aware of the gospel calling to care for the sick and needy, and also of our duty to the amazing planet that God created for us. How can we turn our backs where there is so much to do, but how can one small church even begin to tackle the challenges? We do what we can, however inadequate that may be. We support the wider work of the United Reformed Church, Christian Aid, Fairtrade, Eco Church and Bristol projects including the Sisters of the Church and Digilocal. We have solar panels on our roof and a garden area for all to use. Small things, perhaps, but all part of our commitment to building God's kingdom on earth.
What's the URC? (Home - United Reformed Church)
The United Reformed Church is a family of Christians who meet in local churches across England, Scotland and Wales, part of the worldwide family of Reformed Churches. The URC has around 42,000 members in about 1,200 congregations with more than 600 ministers. More than 48,400 people worship in our churches each week, and many more take part in the weekday activities of the churches. The creation of the United Reformed Church in 1972 formally merged the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England and Wales. 'Reformed' churches are in a stream of tradition that goes back 500 years, to 1517 when Martin Luther launched a movement of challenge in the Church that we call the Protestant Reformation. Being reformed is part of our DNA. It reflects our continual aim of reforming ourselves to be a Church for the present day. Being reformed also means that we delight in exploring the Bible, we do not fear change, and we try to run our churches in ways that take everyone’s insight and contribution seriously. We have been ordaining women for over a century and many URCs offer marriage to same-sex as well as heterosexual couples. Regardless of who you are, your background, your family, your past, your present or future, we are in this church because we believe that God is alive and listening to us through prayer, guiding and speaking to us through the Bible, forgiving us for what we have done wrong, and waiting for us in Heaven after we pass away. God loves you. And as Christians, we do too. You can find out more at https://urc.org.uk/
