Who we are

draft page

Summary of this page

in the town of Gillingham, Dorset we are
the Parish Church,
part of a Benefice with Milton-on-Stour (linked with a Church Schools).
Our Parish is:
part of the Blackmore Vale Deanery which is
part of the Archdeaconry of Dorset which is
part of the Diocese of Salisbury which is
part of the Church of England which is
part of the Anglican Communion which is
part of the wider Christian Church.

The Foundations of Our Faith

Our Annual Report

This will give you a good idea of what we've been doing over the past year. Look for the latest copy put online in the section menu.

St. Martin's Square

The Square

St. Mary's School - click on picture to go to the School Pages on this website

Our town

Gillingham is a growing town of around 11 000 people set in the Blackmore Vale in Dorset (it is "Leddington" in the Vale of the Little Dairies for those more familiar with Thomas Hardy than Dorset). It is on the northern tip of Dorset in the North Dorset District, the borders with both Somerset and Wiltshire each coming only a couple of miles from the town.

Links to websites about Gillingham and the area can be found here.

The Parish

The whole of the town is within the one "Ecclesiastical Parish". The boundaries of the parish define the area for which we at St. Mary's have special responsibility. Virtually all of the country is divided into parishes so that everyone living in England has "their" parish church. This gives certain rights e.g. to get married in the church. However, whether you live in the parish or locally but outside of it, or are visiting from further afield you are welcome to join in our worship and other activities.

The Benefice

Milton-on-Stour is a small village in the same benefice (i.e. the responsibility of the same Rector) just to the north of Gillingham. It has its own section within this website.

Church Schools

There are Church Schools in both Gillingham and
in Milton. You can read about the work of the Diocesan Board of Education with church schools here. The Dorset CC entry for St. Mary's School is here, Milton's
is here.

Part of the Blackmore Vale Deanery

A Deanery is a local group of parishes - a convenient size to work together at times and to help each other out. Gillingham is in the northern part of the Blackmore Vale Deanery: you can read more about the Deanery at the Diocesan website and mainly about the southern parishes of the Deanery here.

See maps of where the Deanery and Archdeaconry fit into Salisbury Diocese.

Our Deanery has a Synod which meets usually 3 times a year; the clergy and 3 lay members of St. Mary's are on the Synod and the meetings are open to others interested. Synod discusses The clergy also meet together in chapter to learn from and support each other.

Part of the Archdeaconry of Dorset

Part of the Diocese of Salisbury

The Diocese of Salisbury is one of 44 dioceses that together make up the Church of England. It covers most of Dorset, a large part of Wiltshire, a few parishes in Hampshire and one in Devon. The diocese, as a geographical entity, presided over by a bishop, with clergy and other advisers working together with him, is the fundamental unit of the church. Parishes represent subdivisions of a diocese, and larger groupings like provinces represent ways in which dioceses work together.

The Bishop of Salisbury is the Rt Rev'd David Stancliffe, who is also on the Church of England's Liturgical Commission. He shares his episcopal ministry with the Bishops of Sherborne, Rt Rev'd Tim Thornton, and of Ramsbury, the Rt. Rev'd Stephen Conway. Within the diocese there are 461 parishes, and 574 churches. The diocese is mainly rural with a few areas of urban development.

The chief church of the Diocese is Salisbury Cathedral - more formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Cathedrals are so called because they are the place where the bishop has his main seat (Latin = cathedra) which symbolises his role as a teacher for the diocese.

Part of the Church of England

Province of Canterbury

Salisbury is first part of the Province of Canterbury, the group of dioceses presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Church of England is made up of the two provinces of Canterbury and York working together. They work so closely together in practice though, that the separate structures of the provinces rarely come into play.

The start

The Church of England is the traditional and historical expression in England of the faith that was brought to these shores by St Augustine of Canterbury, the church that was founded by Jesus Christ on the rock of Peter. The church was renewed in its commitment to the Bible by the movement known as the Reformation, but still continued to maintain the symbolic links of continuity with the church of the first centuries by maintaining the historic ministry of bishops, priests and deacons.

Ancient and Modern

Today the church continues to value the ancient Tradition of the church, particularly the scriptures as the foremost expression and record of God's self-revelation through Jesus Christ but interpreted for today using our God-given ability to reason. Believing that church always goes on being reformed and renewed, continues to work at ways of reformulating and re-expressing traditional belief faithfully and appropriately for the contemporary world.

Foundations of Our Faith

The faith and practice of our Church rest on what is commonly refered to as a, "Three Legged Stool," of Scripture, Tradition and Reason.

Holy Scripture:

We believe the Old and New Testaments to be written by men but inspired by God. Scripture reveals a loving and merciful God who created the human race in His image. It tells how throughout history we failed to live into this image, how God called us again and again to return to Him, and how in the fullness of time He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to heal our relationship with Him. It was written for different people and different times and needs interpreting for our age using our current knowledge (i.e. reason).

Tradition:

We believe that the Holy Spirit acts in the lives of believers guiding us in the unfolding of God's Kingdom and His will for us. By preserving the experiences of early Christians and believers of every generation, we are helped to interpret Scripture and strengthen our faith. Tradition informs our worship and insures the continuity of the Christian faith.

Reason:

We believe that human reason is a gift from God. We believe we all need to use their own God given reason to seek God's will for their lives with the guidance of Scripture, the support of the Christian community, in sincere prayer and with the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Part of the Anglican Communion

The start

The Church of England is also the original church of the Anglican Communion. This was originally simply far flung parts of the Church of England, as clergy travelled out with colonists to America, Canada and later Australia as chaplains and vicars to the settlers. To it was added missionary churches founded mainly as part of the expansion of the British Empire, and often as part of what was seen as its work of "civilizing the natives". However, many missionaries were equally likely to be seen as a threat to the business interests driving colonization, and often their churches were critical of the powers that be, and not simply an extension of them.

Growth

From these beginnings grew a family of churches that shared a likeness, particularly rooted in use of the Book of Common Prayer, and in a sense of being related to the mother Church of England, and particularly to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop came to be seen as a focal point for the emerging family: regarded as "first among equals" (primus inter pares) he had influence and affection, but no power or jurisdiction.

Today

Today the Anglican Communion still shares certain habits and patterns of prayer, and more formal structures of belonging: the Lambeth conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Primates Meeting (a meeting of the senior bishops of the worldwide Communion). It has, however, grown much more diverse, and sometimes fractious and turbulent. Nonetheless, it continues as a now worldwide family, distinctive from both the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches and the various Protestant bodies.

Part of the Wider Church

We are of course part of the Christian Church encompassing many denominations.

Locally we are part of the Churches Together in Gillingham Forum - this includes our Methodist, Roman Catholic and Community Church brothers and sisters in Christ. The clergy from these churches also meet in a fraternal to aid their working together.