A warm welcome to you from our Vicar, Al Metcalfe
Welcome to St Augustine’s Ipswich! However you got here, we’re so glad you did.
Here’s the two questions I get asked most about our church…
‘What kind of church are you?’ and, ‘Who on earth was St Augustine?’
Great questions!
We’re a ‘bring your Bible’ kind of church.
We believe God speaks to us through the Bible, and that what he has to say to us is the most important thing we could hear.
You don’t need to know anything about the Bible before you come, but be prepared to be inspired and challenged by it when you do.
We’re a ‘come as you are’ kind of church.
Everyone is welcome, whoever they are and wherever they’re from. We mean it.
We are a diverse bunch, from many parts of the world and with very different backgrounds brought together by the encounter we’ve all had with Jesus.
Which brings us to…
We’re an ‘it’s all about Jesus’ kind of church.
We’re not very churchy in many ways – our music is informal, we don’t dress up for Sundays and we try not to use too many confusing words.
But we love to talk about Jesus who has changed our lives and who changes them a little more every day as we follow him and share life together.
And in case you’ve got the idea you need to be a saint to come to our kind of church…
Our patron saint, Augustine of Hippo, started out as anything but a saint. He was hugely talented, famous and during his 20s he accumulated everything he wanted – the gold, the glamour and the girls.
And yet he found (as people often do) that none of it was enough. He always wanted more.
At the age of 33, probably thanks to the prayers of his Christian mum, he had a dramatic conversion experience where he met Jesus for himself.
In some of the most profound words ever written he said, ‘You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.’
That's our deepest hope – that whether you find it with us or another church, your heart will find rest in Jesus.
He loves you, he is near you, and he is on your side.
I am so glad you found us online. I really hope to get the chance to meet you in person soon.
Love,
Al
