We are the church of Jesus Christ which gathers at St Laurence Reading.

We stand in a long, long line of those who have done this at St Laurence – there has been a building here since 1196. But in our present incarnation we have been going just a few years. Nine to be exact.

In 2001 the church was given a particular, specific mandate – to see young people come to faith and to build new forms of church with them. This drives all we do. We are not a youth church, anyone is more than welcome to come along, but we are a church who make serving and putting efforts into sharing the Kingdom with young people our main priority.

Since 2001 we have got ourselves involved in all sorts of things, in various schools in Reading offering afterschool clubs, lunch clubs, discussion groups and 1:1’s; in holiday activities each and every day the schools aren’t on, with trips, activities and projects; we have championed young people doing things for people who have much less than them, in sending teams to Malawi, Bulgaria and Uganda, and in running yearly social action projects to make a difference in Reading; and in seeking to invite young people to follow Jesus in the centre of their lives.

St Laurence is about belonging to a group of people who belong to God, and who live to see God’s Kingdom affect young lives. We do that as we gather together Sunday by Sunday, as we share our lives and God’s worship, as we baptise and eat together around the Lord’s table, as we listen to God’s voice and discern his ways in scripture. We do this as we meet together to pray and to listen, to love the work of God’s breath in bringing us life, in supporting one another and challenging one another. We do this as a community of adults – doctors and teachers, students and bankers, mothers and fathers – and children – from babes to those entering teen year, and of course, young people. We are a church who have a mission and a mission who are a church, simply trying to take our place among God’s wider church in Reading, proclaiming by our words and life the revolution that is brought about by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

We seek to be a parish church for the young people of Reading.