Our shared history as St John’s & St Luke’s is relatively recent, but the story of our two churches joining together is a prayerful partnership of complementary Christian communities. We want to invite everyone in our parishes into this joint, distinctive witness to God’s goodness in Christ, and through what we say and do to communicate our conviction that Christianity changes lives, calling us to respect difference, have the courage to be different, and discern what it takes to make a difference.

We believe we’re called to look outwards, that working alongside our neighbours we can help to make Bilton even better and be a blessing along King’s Road.

For us Belonging Together in Christ means that as we share our stories and in doing so affirm our God-given diversity, we aspire to be welcoming spaces in which all can learn from one another and aim to be especially encouraging of children and young people in their spiritual growth. Why not join us and explore what it might mean for you?

In John’s Gospel Jesus acknowledges his disciples as friends (John 15:15); in Luke’s Gospel his disciples finally recognize the risen Christ as they break bread together (Luke 24:30-31). Christianity offers a personal spirituality, but it is also expressed in conversation and realised in moments of encounter; we find belonging in Christ but are challenged to see Christ in one another and hopefully find a home from home in our church communities. It’s not always easy, and we might sometimes need to find ways to disagree well, but we seek to be there for one another as an extended church family. Fundamentally, we believe in the benefits of Christian community and advocate for this as a gift that we can share.

So, whether your commitment is lifelong/lapsed, you’re exploring faith for the first time, perhaps feeling a pull back to something you’ve known before but somehow lost along the way, attend alongside your family, or simply want to carve out some space and time to think and try to make sense of it all, we’re here for you.

Our hopeful welcome extends beyond our two churches, via our congregations and groups into our local area - as Church of England parish churches we seek to give everyone places to belong together, and this includes people of all faiths and none.

In terms of our services, we embrace a variety of worship styles, with music led at St John’s by both our choir and band, and the band and supporting musicians at St Luke’s. Our liturgy is both formal and informal, incorporating opportunities for the traditional and the contemporary, the charismatic and the contemplative. While most people probably tend to belong to one church in particular, there is significant overlap in our churches, congregations and groups and we do encourage people to feel able to attend both churches and switch between depending on which service is on offer and which style of worship happens to be preferred.