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The Parish of Christ Church, Felixstowe
Grange Farm Avenue, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 2FB
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www.christchurchfelixstowe.org.uk
01394 282204 PATRON: Church Trust Fund Trust (CPAS) OUR VISION STATEMENT
“To know Christ more and make Him known” OUR COMMUNITY
PARISH STATUS:
This was granted on the 1st August 2007 POPULATION:
The population of the parish
is approximately 5600 ELECTORAL ROLL: 90, of which a significant proportion do not reside in the parish. | Christ Church Felixstowe is a relatively young church, birthed out of a ‘fresh expression’ in this area 20 years ago, previously known as Cavendish Community Church. We are an urban parish situated at the gateway to nations - Felixstowe is the largest container port in the UK but still maintains its status as a lovely welcoming seaside resort on the east coast. |  |
OUR LOCATION
Felixstowe is an attractive Victorian coastal resort, as well as home to Britain’s largest container port. Christ Church is located in the heart of several housing estates on the dock side of the town to the west of the main town centre. The main housing estates are:
| Cavendish Park Privately owned housing, now 26+ years old.
Orwell Green Mix of privately owned and housing association. Built from 16 years ago up to the present time.
Cricket Hill Both privately owned and association housing between 20 and 10 years old.
Coronation Drive Formerly Council housing, but now mix of private and housing association, approximately 45 to 55 years old. There is also a small unit of former ‘Shaftesbury’ Housing Association housing in the vicinity. |  |
Other buildings and institutions in our area 
There is a residential care home and sheltered accommodation within the Christ Church environs (The Firs, Rowland House, Reynolds Court, and Yetton Ward House), a British Legion centre, a doctor’s surgery, two pubs (The Dooley and the Owl and Pussycat), Morrison’s Supermarket, a Macdonald’s Restaurant and 2 large caravan sites.
Significant local employers in the area include the many companies associated with Felixstowe docks and BT’s Adastral Park at Martlesham. Within the Felixstowe area there are eleven schools (nine infant, junior and primary schools, and two high schools which are merging into one in a new building in 2013). One of these schools, Grange Primary School, lies within the Parish of Christ Church. The nearest Church of England primary school is within Nacton, around 5-6 miles away. Locally there are also Higher and Further education establishments with the University College Suffolk and Suffolk College in nearby Ipswich. Felixstowe Docks is situated at the edge of the Parish of Christ Church, and CCF, alongside partner churches within Churches Together in Felixstowe, actively supports the Mission to Seafarers. HOW WE FIT INTO THE WIDER CHURCH
Christ Church is within the Colneys deanery which is part of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. We have attached more information on both of these in the appendices. The Orwell Team Ministry
Within the deanery, Christ Church Felixstowe is part of the Orwell Team Ministry. This is a benefice of three churches within the outlying areas of Felixstowe. The other churches in the benefice are St. Mary’s Church in Walton and St. Martin & St. Mary in the Trimley villages. Christ Church wishes to enhance the effectiveness of the benefice. Relationships with other churches at home and overseas | Within Felixstowe there is an active ‘Churches Together’ covenant between all Christian churches in the town (with one exception) who hold joint services for special festivals such as Pentecost & Easter. CCF is part of this covenant and a pro-active and prominent contributor to the work of Churches Together in Felixstowe. We support the Felixstowe Youth Worker’s Trust and the Felixstowe Care for the Elderly Worker. |  |
One church member is in Kazakhstan and many other church members have also been involved in overseas mission activities.Over the last few years there has been a number of large scale schools-based music projects, which whilst not formally CCF projects have been mainly driven from members within the church (see onechristmas.org.uk as an example). OUR CHURCH
Church Tradition
CCF originally began as a church plant following a call and vision for there to be a church at the heart of our community. Our church is here to act as a focus and resource for charismatic renewal. Whilst basically Anglican, the church has a strong ecumenical bias and over the years has embraced teaching and guidance from other denominations as well as including retired non-Anglican clergy as part of the leadership. Over the past few years increasingly our attention has been directed towards serving the needs of the local estates and this has culminated in CCF being granted the status of church in its own parish in 2007. The heart of the church is evangelical with a charismatic flavour and a desire to grow further in an understanding of Kingdom values. The mission statement of “To know Christ more and make Him known” is at the core of all we do. There is a strong team of lay leaders who are involved in various ways including the leading of worship, prayer, ministry etc. under the overall guidance of the vicar and leadership team. In addition there are two members of the church undergoing Diocesan training, one of whom is to be an Ordained Local Minister. At Christ Church we have a strong family emphasis with children’s groups and youth who regularly contribute to the worship of the church as well as a significant senior section of the congregation. CCF has a Declaration of Ecumenical Welcome, signed by all the denominational leaders in the county and is committed to working with and welcoming people from other denominations in the area. CCF is a member of the Evangelical Alliance, New Wine Network and Churches Together in Felixstowe. The PCC (known within CCF as the Forum ) comprises around 12 members in various capacities including Leadership members as well as Benefice and Deanery reps. At present there is a small Leadership team comprised of the vicar, two church wardens and three elected lay members. This team supports the vicar in leading and directing the life of the church. CCF recently became a church within its own parish and as part of the process changed its name from Cavendish Community Church to Christ Church. Previous Ministers
There have been two vicars within the life of our church as well as two Ordained Local Ministers and two non-Anglican associate ministers. We value and welcome the fact that the Bishop has licensed non-Anglican associate leadership within our church and would be open to explore this again in the future.In the past CCF has also supported the training of curates as part of their ministry too. Our Building
Following a period of 5 years worshipping in a number of locations, Christ Church is now in a modern purpose built church, constructed in 1994. It has a well equipped worship area (225 maximum seating capacity), kitchen, office, downstairs small meeting room (used for prayer and crèche) plus one large and two small upper rooms. At Christ Church the building is used by many community groups including U3A, residents associations, Rainbows, Brownies and Guides and also hired for Parentcraft classes, elections, community meetings and for children’s birthday parties. Our Values
At CCF we share the following values:-
• Local church life that is welcoming, relational, accessible for all generations and builds family and community life.
• Inspiring worship that is passionate, intimate, culturally appropriate and facilitates encounter with God.
• Anointed leadership that is visionary, courageous, humble, consistent, full of faith and releases church members into their God-given ministries.
• Spirit-empowered mission that is evangelistic, holistic, kingdom centred and concerned with justice and care for the poor and encourages new church-planting initiatives.
• Orthodox theology with doctrine and ethics founded on the person, teaching and work of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible.
• Bible-based teaching and training that is thoughtful, relevant and equips for everyday life and ministry.
• Personal discipleship that is based on living like Jesus, exemplifying love, prayerfulness, holiness, integrity, accountability, humility and generosity.
• Every-member ministry that discerns each person’s calling and expresses God’s love through the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit.
• Giving - the church gives away 10% of its unrestricted income. Activities within CCF
There are a wide range of activities, groups and teams within CCF ranging from those that support the leading of CCF through to those involved in the organisation and implementation of social events and outreach.
Examples are:-
• Cell Groups (two evening, one morning)
• Two Parent & Toddler groups
• Youth groups
• Coffee mornings (twice weekly)
• A Tuesday Prayer Group
• Football evening each week
• Annual men’s walking weekend
• Children’s groups both on a Sunday morning and during the week
• The Alpha Course
• “You and Me” - a lunch time discussion group
• ‘The Marriage Course’ and pre-marriage courses
• The monthly “Young at Heart” club, an open social group for the local community
• An annual church away weekend at Sizewell Hall
• Social events for the local community (such as quizzes, music, drama, mime etc.) What we offer
We believe that our main strengths are
• Excellent provision for worship with several highly competent musicians.
• Strong emphasis on family and building a place of belonging for all.
• A good technical capability with fully integrated visuals and sound system
• Highly effective children and youth ministry, with a committed team
• A modern and versatile building
• Active participation in Churches Together in Felixstowe
• An informal and open approach to liturgy and style with an enthusiasm to explore new areas of worship
• Child protection policy
• High quality and strength of teaching
• A wide spectrum of denominational backgrounds within the congregation In addition we have
• A part-time church administrator
• A part-time cleaner
• A ‘Prayer Ministry Team’
• A ‘Pastoral Care Team’
• A Worship Team
• A Welcome Team
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