New here?

A big welcome!

Whether you’re new to the area and looking for a church – or you’re completely new to church or the Christian faith – then you’ll find a warm welcome here.

On this page you’ll find answers to some of the most frequent questions people ask us. However if your question isn’t answered below or you just want to know more then please contact us either by phone on 01256 840502 or by using our contact form. We will be delighted to hear from you!

Although we are one parish, we have two churches, St Marks in Kempshott and Immanuel in Hatch Warren and although they are in two different locations they are both run by the same vicar and the same team.  To find out more about the different services offered by St Mark’s and Immanuel, please explore this website.

Where do I find you?

St Marks is based on Homesteads Road in Kempshott, whereas Immanuel is based on Danebury Road in Hatch Warren where the church is part of the Church of England School of St Mark’s.  For specific directions to both of our churches, please see the Plan Your First Visit page.

What do I wear?

Just wear whatever you feel comfortable in. We are a very informal church and accept people just as they are.

What can I expect?

We know that going anywhere for the first time can be a bit daunting, and our Welcome Team can introduce you to people you can sit with and who can tell you more about the church – or you’re welcome to sit quietly on your own. If there’s anything that you don’t understand or something you want to know more about, please just ask.

Our 9:00 am Sunday morning service takes place at Immanuel and is a weekly Holy Communion service alternating between Book of Common Prayer and Common Worship with a mix of music.  Please also look at our Services page for full details of the different services.

Our 10:30 am Sunday morning service varies but all services here usually start with worship songs led by our music group. 

If you are coming with children, please don’t worry that they are expected to be silent and sit still – they are not! We don’t mind a bit of noise and expect them to move around!

At around 10.50am the children and young people can go to their own sessions. There is a space in the worship area for you to sit with your younger children to read or play quietly if they are too young for groups or would prefer to stay with you.

There’s always a talk explaining a part of the Bible and how it relates to our everyday lives, and then we pray together for our community and our world. The service finishes around 11:30am, and we love to chat over tea, coffee, squash and biscuits.

If you would like someone to pray with you individually after the service, we have some dedicated people available, we call this prayer ministry, the area will be indicated during the service.

If you’d like a taster of what our services are like, you can find previous service videos available here. If you’d like further explanation about different services, have a look at the Sunday services page.

Accessibility

We aim to be an all-inclusive parish. Our premises are wheelchair accessible and we have reserved parking spaces for blue badge holders, which are near to the entrance. At St Mark’s the toilets are accessible, though we are working to improve these. 

There is a hearing loop in place in the worship area at St Mark’s, and we have large print copies of the Bible and our songbook available. At all services, all of our songs and liturgy are projected onto a large screen.

If you have specific needs or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the parish office here or you can phone us on 01256 840502.