St.Paul's

The life of St.Paul's church

Filleigh is a rural community of about 250 people set in beautiful countryside in N Devon, about 10 miles south of Exmoor. The Fortescue Estate runs and lets out many dairy farms in the local area and is a major employer. The village has a thriving junior and infant school and has recently built a brand new Village hall. There are excellent community relationships between the Church, Village hall and School.

St.Paul's is a beautiful historic building with a very unusual barelled ceiling, painted in panelled sections, and an unusual rounded chancel. The building is being made increasingly user-friendly and is a living church rather than a historic museun.

We have a small Sunday School which meets weekly aprt from family service Sunday, and have children who are also involved in the choir and in bell-ringing. Children and young people are made to feel very much part of the church and the monthly family service seeks to integrate all ages whilst focussing mainly on the children. The church has been involved with the village in setting up a youth group which meets at the village hall.

We have much shared ministry with the adjacent parish of Chittlehampton, including a shared mission statement of:

'REACHING UPWARDS, REACHING OUTWARDS'

We also have a joint leadership team which provided oversight and direction in conjunciton with the PCC. We have a weekly housegroup that is very committed to discipleship and to praying for the life of the church.

The church is an informal ecumenical arrangement between the C of E and the Methodist church, the distincitons are now hardly noticeable but where they are,they greatly enrich the ministry of the church. We are also part of the South Molton Team Ministry and are working towards greater co-operation in ministry areas such as youthwork and lay-training.

We are an evangelical church greatly committed to our role in the local community and are always ready to welcome new members. May God bless you in Christ.