What We Believe

We are an Anglican parish, made up of two churches – St. James Church, Albion Street, New Brighton and Emmanuel Church, Seabank Road,  in the coastal town of New Brighton.

As Anglicans we are part of the Church of England and form part of the One, Worldwide, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
We worship the one true God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We believe in a God of love.
We believe in the teaching of Jesus and we try to follow in his footsteps as we care for people in our community.
We believe that God’s Holy Spirit works in us and through us.
We believe in a community of faith where we can share together and learn from each other.

To help you explore further. Click the link to find out more. https://christianity.org.uk/

What We Do

St. James with Emmanuel, New Brighton is a Christian church which serves the community with a variety of activities.  Our primary activities are:

1. The Christian faith, expressed by the Church of England, provides a religious, moral and ethical framework. The church seeks to explain and promote this faith to the parish. Members of the congregation are encouraged to live out that faith.
2. The Parish maintains two church buildings as places of worship. There are regular services, Sundays 9.30am at Emmanuel and 11am at St. James. Thursdays Holy Communion at Emmanuel 9.30am. Special Christian festivals (e.g. Christmas, Easter) are also celebrated.  Emmanuel church is open on a Saturday morning for coffee and fellowship. St. James is open 11am-2pm most days.
3. The buildings also have facilities which enable social and outreach activities to take place.
4. The churches are available and used for weddings, blessings of marriage, baptisms and funerals. There are also special annual services such as Special Lives, A commemoration of the departed, whether we have lost loved ones recently or not; Lifeboat service and Light Up A Life in collaboration with St John's Hospice.
5. There is a regular prayer meeting, Housegroups, and Lent courses, Alpha courses and other dates are used for opportunities for groups to meet for fellowship and enriching their Christian faith.
6. The church helps children and young people in moral and spiritual guidance by having a Sunday School. Both churches also have a Carers and children group, and Emmanuel church facilities are used by uniformed groups (Rainbows, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, Guides).
7. The Vicar and others carry out pastoral visits, sick visiting (including hospital) and home Holy Communion visits.
8. Both churches provide practical care in the community with very active foodbanks on two days each week.
9. Other organisations can and do use the buildings for a community facility, and both churches are open for hire by individuals or groups for parties and other social activities, providing they can work within the ethos of the church.
10. The church at St. James currently houses the New Brighton Heritage and Visitor Centre.

Who's Who

How We Are Organised

There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes in keeping a church up and running!  As well as the Vicar who you will see leading services, we have two Readers, who support the Vicar in taking services and in providing pastoral support.

The Parish has a Parochial Church Council who meet every two months to take important decisions over the running of the churches.  A Standing Committee also meets more regularly in order to address the day to day matters.

In addition, there is a Restoration Committee which addresses those matters relating to the restoration of the spire and the St James church building, as well as a Parish Development Group which looks at how the Parish can better connect with and serve the local community.

That is before any of the various groups who run any of the church groups, manage the choirs, clean the buildings, organise the flowers, produce the magazine…