St James & Emmanuel

We believe we are called by God

To grow a diverse, worshipping community, where we encourage belonging and nurture believing; together becoming followers of Jesus who share God’s love with the world.

Belonging

Believing

BecomingWelcome to

St James &Emmanuel

Our

vis

ion

Jesus once told a story about a tree that grewfrom the smallestof seeds. As it grewlarger and larger thebirds of the air wereattracted to the shadeand made nests in its many branches.Mark 4:30-32

Our church structure and visualidentity are based on this story.

St James & Emmanuel is like this tree with many branches, meeting in four buildings, with four Sunday congregations and numerous mid-week groups. Each of these branches offers a different and varied place of belonging.

Our church is home to many community groupsand voluntary organisations and, together withour church school, we offer a place of sanctuaryand welcome for thousands of people and help them to fulfil their calling in the world.We hope you will find a place here too.

Our church has been shaped by its history.When the two Anglican churches of St Jamesand Emmanuel united in 1981 it created adiverse Christian community.

We value and treasure our diversity.

Our diversity enables people with differentpersonalities, experiences, and backgrounds tofind a place to belong.

We value and treasure belonging.

Our

sha

red

valu

es

From a place of belonging we find ourselves on a journey of discovery and growth in faith. FromSunday services and mid-week groups through tocourses and our church school we nurture thejourney of faith in Jesus.

We value and treasure believing.

The journey of faith in Jesus is exciting,transforming and challenging. As we journeytoward God we find that we respond creatively byexpressing and sharing the love of God throughlocal and international projects, the arts, andcommunity involvement.

We value and treasure the journey of becoming.

Our shared values enable our church to becomethe tree Jesus talked about in his parable; a placewhere people can shelter in its branches,experience the transforming power of God’s loveand take this message out to the world.

In order to nurture these shared values we feelparticularly called to develop five key branchesof our shared life.

0ur shared

life...

We develop the unique strengths of eachof our four diverse congregations.

• We encourage everyone to use theirunique gifts for the benefit of all.

• We offer relevant and life-enhancingBible teaching and inspiring worship.

• We support the life of each congregationthrough a hub group of lay leaders.

• We offer pastoral care to eachcongregation.

We also feel called to:

• Encourage greater participation withthose on the margins of our churchfamily.

• Plant new congregations whenappropriate.

Cong

rega

tions

We offer a diverse range of homegroupswhere we can get to know other people in a safe environment of loving support.

• Our homegroups provide a place ofsanctuary in our pressurised and complexworld.

• Our homegroups develop the life of faith through prayer, Bible study, andopportunities to serve inside and outside our church community.

• We support and care for homegroup leaders,equipping them to provide imaginative andpositive approaches to spiritual growth.

We also feel called to:

• Increase participation in homegroups.

• Help other small groups, task groups or ministry groups within the church to take on more of the characteristics of our homegroups.

Hom

egro

ups

We offer a diverse range of youth andchildren’s groups across the church andthroughout the week.

• We encourage children and young people to grow in all aspects of their life and faith in Jesus and participate fully in the life of the church.

• We support, train and develop teams of adulthelpers under the supervision and guidance of a trained youth and children’s minister.

• We work in close partnership with DidsburyCE Primary School by providing practicalsupport, good governance, pastoral care, andan integrated approach to the education andspiritual development of each child.

We also feel called to:

• Develop closer links with other local primaryand secondary schools.

• Develop our youth ministry.

• Actively welcome children and young peoplewith little or no church background.

Yout

h an

d Ch

ildre

n

This ministry is undergirded by the Safeguarding Children guidelines.

We work creatively with our localcommunity for the benefit of all, seekingto serve and to learn from our neighboursas we share God’s love in word and deed.

• We invest in our church buildings so thatthey support our life and mission andprovide a high quality resource for localcommunity activities.

• We support those who care for themarginalised and needy.

• We share resources and missionopportunities with other local churches.

We also feel called to:

• Support congregations in other parts of the deanery (Withington) and diocese (Manchester) when invited.

Loca

l Com

mun

ity

We believe that care for creation and theworld’s most vulnerable people isfundamental to following Jesus.

• We support projects in deprived areas ofthe world.

• We support our mission partners by prayer,personal interest, giving and going.

• We are a community that works for and,where necessary, campaigns for a betterstewardship of the world’s resources.

We also feel called to:

• Learn how to live a simple lifestyle for thebenefit of all.

• Bring environmental concern into allaspects of church life.G

loba

l Com

mun

ity

The Didsbury FletcherMoss

DidsburyPark

Manchester

Library

Northenden

E DidsburyStation

Wilmslo

wStockport

PARRSWOOD ROAD

WILM

SLOW

ROAD

SCHO

OL LAN

E

WILMSLOW ROAD B5093

BARLOW

MO

OR RO

AD A5145

PALATINE ROAD B5167

STENN

ER LANE

St JamesParish Centre

No6

Emmanuel

Didsbury C of E School

DidsburyVillage

Parish Office, 6 Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6TR

Tel: 0161 446 4150office@stjamesandemmanuel.org

stjamesandemmanuel.org

Printed on 100% recycled paper manufactured using post consumer waste.

Registered Charity 1131669