A thriving Inclusive Church

After a year's careful reflection, PCC voted last month to join the Inclusive Church network. 

 

The network won't try to make us do or to be anything that we are not already doing or becoming. The main and best reason for joining the network was well described by the PCC member who asked: How do people know that we are a thriving, inclusive church? 

 

For a number of years that has been one of our key themes within our overall vision of 'Singing the Song of Faith and Justice'.

 

But for those who don't know SMR, who are looking for a place to belong where they can be themselves, as they are, made in the image of God and loved by those around them as much as they are loved by God .. for them, we weren't very good at (to use the word coined at PCC) asserting our inclusive understanding of theology and church life. 

 

Joining Inclusive Church gives us the right to use the logo above - which says it all in ten round dots. It's the power of symbols over words: we've always had the words on our website, but now we have a sign and symbol that conveys the message with ease and conviction. 

 

You can read more about Inclusive Church on their website here


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We've seen lots of amazing work in the visitor services department so far this year. SMR stewards have generated over £4,500 donations between January and April 2026 and welcomed over 5000 visitors to the Church. We are welcoming new tour guides to the front of house team with the eventual goal to expand the number of tours we are able to offer to the public. Janet and Reuben have both done their first tours and have received wonderful reviews from visitors. If you are interested in volunteering on the front of house team please contact me on lucy.marshall@stmaryredcliffe.co.uk . We have had some amazing feedback from our outreach events as we aim to welcome not only those familiar with SMR but also those that have never been before. These have included film screenings, talks and most recently the Redcliffe Sessions which raised just under £150 for our Lent charity partner, CALM. Thank you to all those who have supported these. The next Redcliffe Session will be in support of SMR and will feature Bristol band Dogsbody on guitar, cello and violin, and songwriter, Alex Pester on 13th June. I am very excited looking into the rest of 2026 for our future events run both in house and by external hirers, more information of which can be found on our website. If you are interested in volunteering at any future SMR events please let me know! Lucy Marshall Visitor Services Coordinator 06.05.2026