Wivenhoe Community Church
Wivenhoe Community Church FAQs2025-03-06T13:09:14+00:00

FAQs

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions. If you have a question you’d like to ask please let us know and we would be happy to help.

Can you do funerals and weddings?2025-02-12T12:49:26+00:00

  • We can provide guidance and offer prayer and leadership for these events, including help in designing the event, speaking at them, guiding families, but we don’t have official certification to run funerals or weddings.
Can I be baptised?2025-02-12T12:49:03+00:00

  • Yes  – we baptise people in a variety of settings including swimming pools, the sea and even hot tub sometimes!.
Are you qualified as church leaders?2025-02-12T12:48:33+00:00

  • We believe that faith and a relationship with God through prayer and bible study are the key qualifications to lead. 
  • Dirk is certified as Mission Shaped Ministry leader and we’ve done safeguarding training
  • We’re not formally ‘ordained’.
Who’s in charge of Wivenhoe Community Church?2025-02-12T12:48:15+00:00

  • We have a small leadership group currently led by Dirk and Adele Paterson and Lucy Stevens, Julia and Tom Cameron and Sue Nutt.
Is Wivenhoe Community Church accountable?2025-02-12T12:47:50+00:00

  • Yes, we’re accountable to the Pioneer Group of Churches around Colchester overseen by the Church of England.
Is Wivenhoe Community Church part of the Church of England?2025-02-12T12:47:27+00:00

  • Yes and no. We are part of a group of pioneer community churches which was originally overseen by a Church of England minister. We were launched by the Bishop of Colchester and recognised as a ‘fresh expression’ of faith in the community. However, we have no formal affiliation to any particular church movement.
What’s the service like?2025-02-12T12:47:07+00:00

  • We have breakfast together and then have a simple service with prayer, sung worship, a bible based talk and a lively discussion.
Do you have a building?2025-02-12T12:46:37+00:00

  • We don’t own a building. We believe you can worship God anywhere, so at the moment we meet in Scout Hall.
How long have you been going?2025-02-12T12:46:17+00:00

  • We’ve been offering services for 14 years.
How are you funded?2025-02-12T12:38:30+00:00

  • We have no formal funding. Many of us contribute a small amount, but we have very modest outgoings, so we don’t need (or ask) for money.
How did the Wivenhoe Community Church start/how have you developed?2025-02-12T12:37:45+00:00

  • We started as a simple faith-based group of like-minded people meeting in a home for prayer, bible study and worship. 
  • When we outgrew a house, we met in the Flag Pub then the Greyhound and became the Wivenhoe Pub Church, launched by the Bishop of Colchester. 
  • We then outgrew the pubs and wanted to give people breakfast, so we met in the Royal British Legion, then the Library and now we meet in the Scout hut over breakfast.  
  • We have also run community events, including worship nights in the local pubs, carol singing in pubs at Christmas, teaching days and more.
Why did you start ?2025-02-12T12:37:28+00:00

  • We were asked by a local vicar to try and cater for people exploring faith but who find churches difficult places for a variety of reasons. 
  • We wanted to provide an informal bible teaching church in Wivenhoe, so people didn’t have to go to Colchester or further afield on a Sunday.
Do you compete with other churches?2025-02-12T12:37:10+00:00

  • No. We’re here to complement not compete with other churches. 
  • We’re delighted to work with other churches through the Wivenhoe Churches Together movement. 
  • Everyone likes their onions cooked in different ways  – we provide an informal, discussion based setting over breakfast, rather than a formal service.
Is there any financial cost to joining the Wivenhoe Community Church?2025-02-12T12:36:51+00:00

  • No. the services including the breakfast are completely free. 
  • If you want to give some money at some point to help with our modest costs, we welcome that, but there’s absolutely no obligation.
Do you do work for children?2025-02-12T12:36:34+00:00

  • We don’t have a specific children’s programme, but all children are welcome. 
  • We can do bible classes for children on request when they are interested in developing their faith.
What do you believe/teach?2025-02-12T12:36:15+00:00

  • There are no set of beliefs or behaviours you have sign up to. 
  • Based on careful study of the bible in today’s context, our starting point is often ‘what would Jesus say in this situation in Wivenhoe today?’ 
  • The leadership believe that Jesus is the son of God and that we can have a relationship with God through him, by the Holy Spirit.
Would I be ‘good enough’ to join Wivenhoe Community Church?2025-02-12T12:35:47+00:00

  • Undoubtedly Yes. There is no ‘good enough’.
  • Jesus taught that everyone needs God and that he came for the broken, the lost, the spiritually bankrupt. Not for the religious. 
  • We’re here for the people who don’t think they are good enough, knowing that none of us are good enough, but that we’re all welcome. 
Do you need to be ‘religious’ or a ‘Christian’ to be part of the Wivenhoe Community Church?2025-02-12T12:35:11+00:00

  • No. We welcome and encourage people of all faiths and none to be part of a faith journey. 
  • We’re not really ‘religious’ although we do encourage faith growth, you don’t need any faith to come. 
  • We have people who call themselves ‘Christians’ but many who don’t and people from other faiths and faith backgrounds are equally welcome.
What do you do?2025-02-12T12:34:52+00:00

  • We have breakfast together and have a simple service with prayer, sung musical worship, a bible-based talk and an inclusive discussion. 
  • We also hold prayer meetings, worship nights, bible studies, community meals, Halloween light parties and courses to try and answer the questions of life. 
  • We pray for people in the community  – for healing, wellbeing and fulfilment in all aspects of life.for healing, 
  • We try to share the love of God with our community and help people have a relationship with God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
When andwhere do you meet?2025-02-12T12:34:34+00:00

  • We meet every Sunday at 9.45am.
  • We meet at the Scout Hall in Wivenhoe behind the Town Council Building.
What is Wivenhoe Community Church?2025-02-12T12:32:41+00:00

  • We’re an informal, friendly, interactive space for people to explore spirituality and faith.
  • We’re a community based expression of faith – in the community, by the community, for the community.
  • We try to share the love of God with our community and help people have a relationship with God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

In the community, by the community, for the community.

In the community, by the community, for the community.

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