Who We Are
St Margaret’s is a small but thriving Anglican church serving the villages of West Hoathly, and Sharpthorne, and with its linked church of All Saints’, it also serves the hamlet of Highbrook.
We are a community of Christians seeking to grow in faith through worship.
Our faith is summarised in the Apostles’ Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
This website is maintained by PCC members who are not ministers. If you would like to know more about the Christian faith and the Church of England please read more here on the Church of England website.
If you have specific questions we are currently being served by a rota of visiting priests who will be pleased to speak to you after the service. If you need urgent help please contact our churchwardens (details on the contacts page)
Whilst our primary purpose is to be a welcoming place for Christian worship, we also endeavour to reach out to all members of the community around us, organising events such as our Street Fairs and Thanksgiving for the Harvest Service, and the marking of Remembrance Sunday plus a varied programme of talks and concerts in the church. We offer a Sunday Club for young children during the 10.30 morning service, a weekly youth club for children in years 6-9 on a Friday evening and the Village’s monthly lunch club for older parishioners is hosted over the course of the year. The church is open during daylight hours for visitors and the local community to come in for private prayer, quiet reflection or for historical interest.
We offer a range of different services at St Margaret’s and All Saints, Highbrook, using both traditional and more modern forms of worship. Other activities including Bible Study which is either lay led in someone’s home or clergy led at special times of year like Advent and Lent. These offer opportunities for people to explore or deepen their understanding of the Christian faith. See our Services and Regular events page to find out more.
Further Information
St. Margaret’s church is dedicated to St. Margaret of Antioch, a virgin martyr from the 4th century. The ordeals she suffered are of the most fabulous description, including being swallowed by Satan in the form of a dragon and then released through her prayers. Our church adopts her emblem in the form of a cross piercing the mouth of a dragon.
We have adopted this bible verse from Micah 6.8 as a firm guide for our life together.
“To do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.”
Together the two parishes of West Hoathly and Highbrook form a united Benefice, which means that our vicar is the minister for both parishes.
Our church is in Cuckfield Deanery , led by Bishop Ruth, Bishop of Horsham, and our Rural Dean is the Revd Christopher Powell, Vicar of the parish of St Peter & St John the Baptist, Wivelsfield. This deanery falls within the wider Chichester Diocese led by Bishop Martin, Bishop of Chichester. Links to Chichester Diocese and the Church of England below:
http://www.chichester.anglican.org/
https://www.churchofengland.org/
The PCC (Parochial Church Council) is elected each April/May from members of the church who are on our electoral roll, and together with the vicar and churchwardens, is charged to care for the finances and fabric of the church and churchyard, and also promote the whole mission of the Church in such a way that the Christian faith is promoted within the parish.
Annual accounts for the church are presented at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) each year.
St. Margaret’s church is a registered charity, registered number 1164054.
Church partnerships
Throughout the year we also actively support mission agencies and charities in both this country and around the world. This includes Family Support World, The Children’s Society, Open Houses Crawley, Refugees Welcome, East Grinstead Foodbank and Christian Aid. A Catholic congregation used to meet for worship at St Dunstan’s chapel, North Lane, West Hoathly, led by Father Paul from Worth Abbey. Sadly, this is now no longer used but we continue to promote events at Worth Abbey to maintain this link that we have nurtured over the years.
For further infomation please see http://www.worthabbeyparish.co.uk/
The church manages and uses Sharpthorne Church Hall in Station road which is available for hire as well as being used for PCC meetings, worship and church events.
The Village School
West Hoathly primary school is a Church of England Voluntary Controlled School. The PCC nominates a ‘Foundation Governor’ to serve on the school’s governing body and the Church seeks to play an active role in the life of the school. Annual highlights include the marking of key days in the Church year such as Ash Wednesday, Easter and Pentecost, plus the school’s Harvest festival and the Leavers’ service in church. Our Vicar also leads a weekly act of worship in the school. http://www.westhoathlyschool.co.uk/