Church life
St Peter's Church was founded in 1867 by members of St Paul's, Swanley Village as there was no church serving the expanding village of Hextable at the time. St Peter's is, therefore, an early missional church plant. There’s always been witness to life with Jesus since 1867 at College Road, with worship at St Paul’s since 1861 at School Lane in Swanley Village.
With a central location in the local community, there's always plenty going on! With Life-groups, Early Prayer, Pop In, Crafts, Children, youth and families ministry galore and lots else: there's plenty for everyone to get involved in.
St Paul's, located in Swanley Village, is a beautiful mid-nineteenth-century Victorian church set in the grounds of the picturesque glebe. It’s a wonderful setting and makes for generations of connections through baptisms, weddings and funerals. St Paul's has a more traditional feel, offering a place of quiet, contemplative, and prayerful reflection.
Congregational life
Sunday life is always life-giving and joyful. Come share in worship and growth in God together. You are so very welcome to join us. We aim to contribute well to the kingdom of God by resourcing and equipping all to follow Jesus.
08.30 at St Paul’s, Swanley Village. A simple, prayerful, spoken communion service.
10.30 at St Peter’s, Hextable. Informal Sunday celebration, led by a worship band, with teaching and separate children's and youth provision. Refreshments are served before.
Life groups meet weekly or fortnightly in people's homes, either during the day or evening.
Deeper Bible Study group meets in the café at St Peter’s on Mondays at 7.30pm.
Youth and children Toddlers, After School Club, and Youth Group activities weekly.
Life together
Worship is central to our church family life. We passionately believe that we can all honour Jesus and experience something of His presence and life through the Holy Spirit. This blend of word and spirit matters.
We have a wide range of worship styles across our services; from the traditional style of St Paul’s to the more contemporary style at St Peter’s, aiming to provide something that will enable everyone to experience something of God's presence. We love to discover more of God’s Holy Spirit as we trace His presence and active indwelling. Prayer ministry is ministering the love and power of Jesus directly to someone, and we seek to give time, space, and priority to this. More details from our team here.
Pastoral Care
As a medium-sized church family, the best way of giving and receiving care is to belong to one of our Life Groups.
We also recognise that sometimes we need to talk to someone outside of your relationship circle. Liz, our Pastoral Care Coordinator, will gladly arrange for listening, prayerful support for you from within our seven-person Pastoral Care Team.
Gladly direct your request by email initially: pastoralcareteam@stph.org.uk
Children and Youth
Children and Youth work are integral to our church life.
Tiny Treasures is our Parent and Carer's Toddler Group. We meet on Monday afternoons in term time at 13.30-15.00 for play, chat, crafts, singing, refreshments, stories, friends and fun!
Events for our 5-11’s
Alongside the 10.30 service at St Peter's, we run Sunday groups for children and youth. Ask about this when you arrive and your children will be guided to the best activity group to suit you and your family.
Our midweek sessional work serves babies and families, primary school and youths in drop-in sessions, in addition to Youth Alpha and more…
Our children and youth team is shaping up new groups and presence in our schools, community and church spaces to serve our under-18 esp. See the weekly news sheet for more information, or pop us an email: office@stph.org.uk
Alpha
Alpha is a simple, life-changing course: sharing big questions, live input, and good food.
We always look forward to hosting people who are considering where life, faith and Jesus connect. It’s a safe place where people come together, ask questions, and explore what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Whether you've been a Christian for a short time, or whether you're just curious and looking to find out a little bit more, this is the place to be! Alpha runs in 169 countries and has been experienced by more than 31 million people worldwide. We host these across six morning and evening sessions regularly, so gladly please register for what best suits you. For more information, email office@stph.org.uk We'd love to have you share in this!
Mission
Mission partnership matters to us.
We aim to make a positive impact locally, regionally, and globally by living out our Acts 1:8 commitment. We actively support and partner with several charities and plan to strengthen these links in the future.
Money
Giving away our money can feel like a challenge. Giving imitates Jesus, honours God, and helps lots of other people. Jesus gave us all He had. He gave us more than we can possibly imagine, and in patterning Him, the part we give is a way of meeting need, receiving, and making God’s blessing real and possible for others. When you’re settled in being with us at St Peter’s and St Paul's, do consider using the standing order form, and being a part of making this all possible. Your practical monthly partnership this way or through the giving opportunities would be very appreciated. All of our local giving covers the costs of all that we do in service and ministry near and far.
