Mission Statement
In February 1992, the following Mission Statement
was formulated.
to bring a fresh global vision of hope through God's
love to the people of Abingdon, offering them good news of forgiveness,
reconciliation and new life through Jesus Christ;
to rediscover, live out and present the Gospel through
our fellowship and worship, unity and diversity;
to express this message through relevant words and
actions in the community and by co-operating with others to identify and
meet specific needs so that lives are changed, the Church grows and our
local community increasingly reflects the values of the kingdom of God.
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Organisation
It is perhaps not surprising that an organisation
involving a significant number of churches of different denominations,
each with its own characteristic organisational and administrative structure,
has itself evolved a organisational structure. In late 2007 the structure was
considerably 'slimmed down' and simplified
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The Governing Body is the ultimate authority and consists
of all the staff (i.e. clergy and pastors), one lay representative from each church, the Treasurer
and the Administrator. The current chair is Ed Evans, leader of Abingdon Community Church
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The Leadership Team, responsible for the day-to-day running
of the CiA, consusts of two staff and two lay members, plus the Aministrator and
Treasurer (when required)
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There is also a Financial Sub-Committee.
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Action Groups and Task Teams cover a broad
spectrum of activities. Their activities are outlined
below.
Action Groups and Task Teams
The Christian Aid Group organise the town-wide
house-to-house collection during Christian Aid Week; they also arrange
an annual Christian Aid Service and generally work to promote awareness
of the activities and needs of Christian Aid.
Abingdon
Traidcraft Group has outlets for fair traded goods in most of the
town's churches and at 35 Ock Street.
Corrymeela Support Group encourages the CiA
to support the work of the Correymeela ecumenical community in Ireland.
The Abingdon group raises money for the community and has sent volunteers
to work with the Corrymeela Summer Programme.
Christian Listeners is a project of the Acorn
Christian Healing Trust, and aims to develop the church's ministry of pastoral
care and healing by training local groups of Christian Listeners.
The Church Twinning Group aims to make close
ecumenical church links with churches in the Twin Towns of Abingdon and
the Vale of the White Horse: Argentan, Schongau, St Niklaas and Colmar.
Women's World Day of Prayer is a world wide
movement for Christian women, who come together each year to observe a
common day of prayer. Each year women in a different country are chosen
to write the service.
Christian Focus A quarterly magazine which is
published by the CiA and is available from all the member churches.
For the current issue click here
CiA News is circulated to the editors of all the individual church publications
each month, containing information about forthcoming CiA events and other
news, for incorporation into the individual publications.
For the current copy, click here
CiA Website is administered by John Shore and David Duce (see bottom of page)
Welcome to Abingdon is a ministry aiming to give people a friendly welcome
to their new home, and to provide helpful information, when they move into
or within the town.
is a house built over 300 years ago, which for many
years has been home to the ministers of Abingdon Baptist Church. In the mid-1990s it underwent a major programme of restoration and is now a Hospitality Centre
for all the people of the town and visitors to the town.
35 Ock Street aims to provide a place where the
whole community can find a warm welcome and friendly service, where those
with problems can find people willing to listen and where there is support
for families in difficulties. It also offers pleasant, homely rooms to
any organisation or group whose work helps to build up the community life
of the town. Already many of the groups and societies in the town meet
on the premises and it is hoped that the work and use of the centre will
continue to grow.
Although 35 Ock Street is part of the premises
of Abingdon Baptist Church, the hospitality area is staffed by people drawn
from nearly all the Abingdon Churches.
This website aims to promote awareness of the
CiA to other Christians, in Abingdon, and wordwide, and to act as a central
point from which information about the individual churches, their ministries
and services, activities and histories, may be located.
For more information about the CiA or any of its
activities, please contact
The authors of this web page are John Shore
and David Duce