1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity

Peachcroft Christian Centre, Abingdon
Church Profile 2015
Abingdon Town
Once the County Town of Berkshire, the historic market town of Abingdon, now in Oxfordshire, is situated
on the River Thames six miles south of the City of Oxford. It is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement
in England and is now home to approximately 35,000 people. In the last thirty years or so the town has
experienced considerable growth, mostly to the north and west, with new housing estates springing up on
the periphery of the town. The town centre has been affected by large out of town shopping facilities and
many shops and industrial premises have been replaced by infill housing development. Plans for further
development, circa 1,000 homes, are under consideration for the north and north west of the town as part of
the Vales Local Plan for 2031.
The town is generally prosperous with many people commuting to work in the city and elsewhere. While
many older companies such as Morland’s brewery and the MG Sports Car factory have closed, there are
several thriving light industrial estates and science parks providing employment in for example printing,
computing, and the manufacture of scientific instruments. The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus and
the Culham Science Centre are renowned research establishments nearby, with the large scientific
community being reflected in the membership of the churches in Abingdon.
For many years the home of RAF Abingdon, the base, renamed Dalton Barracks, is now home to the Royal
Army Logistics Corps. Like most parts of the United Kingdom, Abingdon’s population is becoming more
ethnically diverse, but to date there is no significant ethnic minority.
The Church in Abingdon
There is wide cooperation between churches in Abingdon under the umbrella of the Church in Abingdon
(CiA), which is an ecumenical partnership involving 14 churches. The Church in Abingdon seeks to be one
church working together to forward the work of Christ and demonstrate God’s love shared between the
churches and reaching out to the town. In origin Peachcroft Christian Centre is an ecumenical church plant
of the CiA and has always played a very active part in the events and meetings of the CiA such as united
acts of worship, Street Pastors ‘and Alpha.
Peachcroft Christian Centre
Peachcroft Christian Centre is located in the heart of the Peachcroft housing estate, northeast Abingdon. In
the 1970s, an anonymous donor gave £20,000 to establish an ecumenical Christian presence on the
estate, and in 1987 the centre was finally opened. As an LEP, we belong to the Anglican, Baptist,
United Reformed and Methodist churches. Today our congregation is made up of people from a variety
of church and non-church backgrounds. The worshipping community number around 100 adults and 25
children, with over 60 on the formal membership role.
We seek to celebrate and learn from these different traditions whilst emphasising the fundamental truth that
is common to all. Both infant and adult baptism are practised at the Christian Centre.
We could be broadly categorised as evangelical and charismatic with a heart for mission by serving our
neighbours in practical and meaningful ways. The Bible is important to us and we try to apply and live by the
teachings of Jesus. We also seek the living presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives individually and when we
meet together.
The Christian Centre is also a member of the Evangelical Alliance, reflecting the character of the church and
the desire of its congregation to work for social action through unity and mutual support with other churches.
Peachcroft Christian Centre has had three ministers to date, Revd Jen Lovering, an Anglican, was minister
for the first 10 years, followed by the Revd Steve Godfrey, a Baptist minister who also completed 10 years,
In September 2008 the Revd Peter Bennett, a Methodist Minister, took charge of Peachcroft along with All
Saints Abingdon and Milton Methodist church. Peter’s time at Peachcroft will close as he moves to a new
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Methodist Circuit in the summer of 2015. The Joint Council, our Managing Trustees, has overall pastoral
responsibility for the Church but day-to-day activities are managed by an elected Church Council. In 2009
the Church appointed its first full time Youth Pastor, a role which is now shared between Chris Matthewman
and Ugo Anagor and we have also been joined by Alan Wallis as Assistant Minister.
The church completed a major extension to its building which was opened in March 2007. This project
increased the seating capacity from less than 60 to over 150 and provided a modern and extremely flexible
facility right in the heart of the Peachcroft community. The loans required to complete the build were paid off
during 2010 and focus has moved to raising money to support other projects as part of our tithe
commitment. The church expects to complete its tithe commitment relating to the building project in 2015.
The new facility enabled a number of new and exciting ministries to be started, such us the thriving youth
outreach project and the very popular community café that we run. The church does not currently own a
manse.
Our Vision and Values
We are an informal church that continues to develop a creative and modern style, moving from an inherited
model of church towards emerging church and fresh expressions of church. The congregation has a passion
to see growth through people coming to commit their lives to Christ. We want to see growth through
reaching out to serve the community and making the church accessible to everyone. We would like to
establish the church as the centre of the community, a safe place where anyone can come. We believe that
the completion of our building project, which we had hoped and prayed for over many years, releases the
potential for this to happen. We long to see the worshipping community grow to the extent that the new
building is full to overflowing very soon.
For the existing worshipping community (young and old), we desire to continue to display unity in Christ, to
grow in spiritual maturity and to all experience the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit, seeing miracles and
healing becoming a regular part of lives together.
The following describes our Mission, Vision and Values that we have developed together as a church.
Whilst this expresses where we are today, we recognise that we need to continue to pray earnestly and
listen to seek God’s will and direction for our lives both individually and as a church:
Our Mission, our reason for being:
In the power of the Holy Spirit we are to proclaim the love and work of God as seen in Jesus
Christ and revealed in the Bible.
Our Vision is to be a growing Church on Peachcroft where everyone is welcomed and together we:
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Enjoy being part of a loving, worshipping community.
Learn more about Jesus and through prayer experience the power of the Holy Spirit.
Reach out and serve God through serving our community
Our shared Values are that we desire to be;
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Faithful followers
Active in mission
Committed to worship
True community
FOLLOWERS
 We desire to be and to enable others to be faithful followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 We seek to grow in understanding and character through prayer, study and application of the
Bible.
 We choose to be accountable to the Holy Spirit and to one another.
 In our desire to serve God we are willing to live outside our comfort zones.
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MISSION
 We are called to take the good news and demonstrate the Kingdom of God to our
neighbourhood, town and wider world.
 We are committed to stand up for the rights of the poor and oppressed and bring God’s
compassion and justice to an unjust and suffering world.
 We actively encourage new outreach initiatives and ministries.
 We seek to act as good stewards of creation through all our actions and to encourage others to
recognize their responsibilities too.
WORSHIP
 We desire to worship God with passion and offer our whole lives to Him.
 We expect to experience God’s power and love in our daily lives and whenever we meet
together.
 We value creativity in worship.
COMMUNITY
 We seek to love & serve one another through the sharing of our lives and resources.
 We actively encourage each person to discover, develop and use their God-given gifts and skills
for the benefit of others.
 We desire to be welcoming, accepting and hospitable to all.
 We value children and young people as an integral part of our life together.
Our Services and Activities
Our main Sunday services and Sunday Club for 3-13yr olds take place on Sunday mornings. We use a
mixture of mostly modern but also traditional hymns but appreciate variety and flexibility. We celebrate Holy
Communion on the third and fifth Sunday of the month. All Age worship takes place on the first Sunday of
the month, often as café style. We have an informal Sunday evening service, which takes place on the last
Sunday of the month.
We have four mid-week adult evening home-groups, a Sunday evening group and a youth ministry called
‘Extreme’ for those in the 13-18+ age bracket. We also run a daytime Bible study group for those that cannot
make the evening home-groups.
We believe that we have a key role to play in building up the community spirit on our estate, and the
Christian Centre is a focal point for many local community activities. We run parent and toddler groups,
family fun days and an over 55s’ club, a drop in coffee shop, marriage, parenting and Alpha courses. In
conjunction with All Saints Methodist Church we have a bi-monthly “Messy Church” which attracts many
local families.
Of particular significance is our youth work with ‘Compass Café’ and “14 2 17” run by the centre for local
teenagers. In consultation with the community, the police, local councillors and youth professionals, the
Christian Centre is playing a leading role in the development of work with the marginalized, at-risk youth in
the area.
More information about the church and its activities can be found at http://www.peachcroftcc.org
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