Hello Everyone,

I’m delighted that you have found your way to the SMC website. Like others before you it would be wonderful if you could find your way to our church to join us in person too.  Of course, that won’t be possible for all of you so we hope you will regularly join us for online worship using the link found elsewhere on this website.  In whatever way you join us, it’s great to have you on board and we offer you the warmest of welcomes in Jesus’ Name.

I have had the absolute honour and privilege and the sheer joy of being the minister at SMC since 2019. There are so many wonderful ways I could describe this church but the most important way to describe it is that it is such a loving church.  Without that description, anything else I say about the church wouldn’t really matter anyway.  So, I’m pleased to say that I have found it to be such a loving and welcoming church that has taken me and my family to their hearts and done that for so many others too.

Since joining SMC my own circumstances and that of my family have been difficult to say the least, so to have received so much love and support from the church family at SMC has been such a gift and a blessing for which I am forever thankful.

For a family, is first and foremost what we are. We delight in being a growing family both intergenerationally and numerically which means there will always be a place for you whoever you are.

I saw a sign at a church recently that said, “This is the perfect church for those who know they are not perfect.” And in my hearing recently someone reminded me of the phrase, “If you find a perfect church don’t join it – you will only spoil it.” So, that first sentence is the only way we would claim to be perfect – a perfect church for those who know they are not.

So, we welcome everyone with all their flaws and imperfections, and we also welcome anyone whatever their circumstances in life, whether we are thinking of age, ability or disability, gender assignment or reassignment, marital status, ethnicity, beliefs or sexual orientation.

As you join us you will find a group of loving, well-intentioned, kind, gracious and inclusive people. We may make mistakes and we are open to you showing us insights into how we can improve our welcome too.

As well as wanting to include everyone we are always seeking new ways to reach out.  When the pandemic struck, we immediately moved our worship online and we have remained online as well as joining together in person.  In this way, we are reaching out effectively to all the world as well as to those for whom their home has become their world.

We determined to prioritise the use of our church building for community enterprises rather than for commercial use and we are seeking ways to extend that priority in the coming years.  We reach out into schools and enjoy school children joining us for mid-week activities as part of their school programme. We support programmes internationally too. 

All of this and so much more you will find out about as you navigate the pages of this website.

We do all of this because we know that God reached out in Jesus to let us know that we are loved, accepted, and cherished within his family. Having experienced this for ourselves we want to share it all with you. 

So, as we say at the start of our worship every week, even if you only found us by accident, “Welcome home!”

With the love and prayers of all at SMC

Tom