About St Francis’ Church

Welcome to St Francis’ Church, Valley Park

[Church of England, Methodist Church, United Reformed Church]
SAFEGUARDING
We take our responsibilities to one another, and particularly to those who are vulnerable, very seriously.  To read our various Safeguarding Policies click here to go to our Safeguarding page.		 Valley Park is an area of housing to the west of Chandler’s Ford in southern central Hampshire which was developed over 20 years from the early 1980s.  A local church family was established here in on Trinity Eve, 1987.
St Francis’ Church was built in 1990-91 and dedicated by the Bishop of Winchester on St Francis’ Day, 4th October 1991.
The Church is situated in a quiet location at the heart of the Valley Park community, on a campus site with the adjacent St Francis Church of England Aided Primary School.
St Francis’ is a ‘Single Congregation Local Ecumenical Partnership‘ involving The Church of England, The Methodist Church and The United Reformed Church.
We operate under a “Constitution” formally adopted on Sunday 19th September 2015, replacing an original Constitution which was established in October 1991.
St Francis’, Valley Park Single Congregation Local Ecumenical Partnership was registered as a Charity in England and Wales in February 2016:
Charity Number 1165677.
ACCOUNTABILITY
To read our
Annual Report,
and find out more
about what we have
been doing over the
past year, download
St Francis Annual Report 2018 – v1.0 Final here.Our pictorial Annual Review is here: Annual Review – 2018 – web version		 We are:

  • a Church of England Parish within the Eastleigh Deanery of the Anglican Diocese of Winchester;
  • a Methodist Church within the Winchester and Eastleigh Circuit of the Methodist Church’s Southampton District;
  • a member URC church of the Wessex Synod of the United Reformed Church;  and
  • a single congregation of Christians sharing our faith, mission and ministry together.

We strive to be a Christ-centred and prayerfully growing church family, seeking to serve our local community and the wider world.
We are also members of Churches Together in Chandler’s Ford, the ecumenical grouping of churches in the local area.  Click www.ctcf.org.uk/ to read more of about this grouping and the joint ecumenical services and events which CTICF organises.
MISSION AND MINISTRY
We have developed a parish Mission Action Plan (pMAP) to progress the Ministry and Mission of our Church, which was updated in 2017 and further reviewed in February 2018.  Read about what we plan to do in the coming months by clicking St Francis Valley Park – pMap 2017 – 2020 – v 2-2-1 – Action Plan Revision November 2017.		 St Francis’ strives to be a family-friendly church, and we welcome Christians of all ages and denominations, as well as those exploring the Christian faith or seeking God, to worship alongside us.
Mindful of the message of St Francis [see his prayer below] and of Micah’s challenge [Micah Ch. 6, v. 8]
” …. what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God“,
we seek to be conscious of the needs of our local community and the wider world.We are actively seeking, in conjunction with other bodies who have a concern for our local community, ways in which we might assist in addressing local community needs, both in Valley Park and in the wider Chandler’s Ford / Eastleigh area.In 2015, in partnership with Carers Together Romsey we have launched a monthly Community Café:  St Francis’ Rendezvous Community Cafe which is held every Wednesday morning in our Large Meeting Room, and provides a meeting place and information point for all in Valley Park who would care to join us.  A growing number of people do!
We also actively support ebb_round_logoEastleigh Basics Bank and Eastleigh and Chandler’s Ford Street Pastors Schemes.
and a number of international bodies.

Fairtrade Traidcraft

St Francis’ is a Fair Trade church – all of the tea and coffee we serve are fairly traded products, and we have a regular Traidcraft stall selling a wide range of products sourced under the auspices of the Traidcraft Foundation.

For more information on the work of the Fair Trade Foundation, The Traidcraft Foundation, and on how to make a difference by buying and using Fairly Traded goods, click on the logos above or on these links: Traidcraft and Fair Trade.

Visit our charities page, to read more of our efforts ‘to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God’.

A Prayer of St Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
where there is hatred, let me sow love,
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is doubt, faith,
where there is despair, hope,
where there is darkness, light,
where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not seek to be consoled as to console,
not so much as to be understood as to understand,
not so much to be loved as to love,
for it is giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.