Can you help me find a church (in Cambridge)?

[confusedworshipper]

I really want to start going to church but I've over-thought it. Which is typical behaviour for me. I don't really know much about church aside from what I learnt in R.E. A-level & from attending services when I was a teacher in a CofE school. But in the past two or so years I've been drawn to it and even enrolled my child in a CofE primary (not our nearest).

I live in Cambridge. My local church is St Matthews which I think is technically part of the CofE. But it calls itself evangelical and doesn't have the same "vibe" as CofE churches I've been to before. Can anyone explain the variance in the CofE to me? I've tried googling and I can't seem to figure it out.

If it's evangelical does it automatically mean it is more conservative on matters like women's equality and same sex relationships? This would worry me as I am a progressive.

I've been to Great St Mary's in the city centre a few times but it's massive and I get the sense it's not going to easily give me one of things I am looking for: community.

I've also got my eye on St. Bede's school for my child later on. The admissions for this state:

1. Children from Church of England / Roman Catholic families who are baptised or otherwise recognised as a full member of the Anglican / Roman Catholic Church and whose status is confirmed as such by their priest or minister.
2. Children from families belonging to other Churches that are members of ‘Churches Together in England’, the ‘Evangelical Alliance’ or ‘Partner Churches of Affinity’ whose membership status is confirmed as such by their priest, minister or elder.

Presumably St Matthew's would count as #1 (if we were to start attending regularly and get baptised?)

Thank you for any light you can shed on this matter!

Evangelical just means they believe in spreading the gospel, doesn’t mean they are more conservative. Charismatic churches (‘happy clappy’) are the ones more likely to be conservative

Of course

Check out your local New Frontiers church (googling told me it is City Church Cambridge). They are likely to be modern and lively, with a good children’s program. They are also most likely to be very welcoming to all. However, I would assume they wouldn’t carry out a blessing for a homosexual relationship.

OP from what you've said you want and what I can find of New Frontiers, really, really, don't.

Do you want a church or are you after getting your children into St Bede's?

New Frontiers are not welcoming to all.

The village parish churches tend to be more welcoming and inclusive to all. Little St Mary's is very anglo catholic. Whereabouts in the city are you?

Just seen you're close to St. Matthew's, sorry.

Not about getting into St Bede's -- it's about me exploring and strengthening my faith and finding community for my family.

(But I would like my child to have the option as I feel it is most likely to align with my beliefs and values; though we are in catchment for Parkside so it's obviously not the end of the world if they can't/don't go to St Bede's as from what I hear, it's a v good school).

@shockeditellyou The New Frontiers I have been to have always been welcoming to all. I’m not saying that they are LGBT inclusive when it comes to their core beliefs, but most would always be welcoming to anyone

Not about Cambridge churches (sorry!) but in the CofE in general, the "churchmanship" of a church (music style, formal clothing and prayers or not, etc) often bears remarkably little relation to that group's theology. You get churches in all four combinations of "traditional/modern" style and "liberal/conservative" doctrine.

I reccommed St. Botolph's.St Botolph's They're elegant middle Book of Common Prayer so not super high Anglo-Catholic nor low Evangelical. Also they have choral evensong and classical music.
St. Botolph's says they're inclusive, which is fine.. As a lesbian I would avoid 'Progressive' as the CofE has now replaced same-sex acceptance with gender ideology.
I'm not Christian (Jewish and pagan) but I've happily attended tons of CofI and CofE services with friends (retired bishops and trustees) so I'm very familiar with them and the various types of services.

I think your last point is not correct - they are not “up front” about it only because they do not consider it important, they’re not trying to deceive anyone!

Oh that was supposed to be in reply to @StillSmallVoice

If you're after inclusive and progressive, check out Downing Place URC and the Wesley Methodist Church. The Baptists aren't particularly inclusive, and many of them are anti-women in Church leadership roles, tho they don't shout about it.

This looks lovely, thank you.

OP, in answer to your question wanting to find more out about the evolution of this - that’s a massive subject! It’s fundamentally about different groups’ attitudes to and beliefs about the Bible and how God speaks to us nowadays though.

Yes of course it's massive. I understand the basics and the history from R.E. A-level (20 years ago!) but I was hoping to find a recent article that explains the different "flavours" of CofE/Anglican at the moment but I couldn't really find anything. It's really hard to navigate from an outsider perspective, but this thread has been very helpful!

And just to add, I think it's kind of wild that my parish church and the other nearest ones have gone down the low church and evangelical route.

You go on the "a church near you" website and it appears like all local churches are equal.

But then the second nearest one to me (Christ Church) lists a core belief on their website as marriage being only between man and woman and the only place for sexual intimacy.

It really worries me that a parish church cannot / will not properly serve its community, especially when sexual orientation is a protected characteristic in law.

And I bet a lot of people (who aren't completely insane about researching things like me) attend and then get excluded and/or hooked in.

The might be welcoming but I can guarantee you that they are not inclusive.

I would avoid Newfrontiers like the plague if you are

a) a woman with opinions
b) LGBTI or an ally of.

In fact this whole welcoming thing is the very problem that the Honest Church campaign is trying to address. You can nice as pie to someone's face to start with, but if you believe that 50% of the population should be excluded from proper church leadership (eg in newfrontiers only accept male elders) and that a whole bunch of people shouldn't be allowed to get married to another consenting adult, that's bound to have an impact on how you interact with people. And if you think it doesn't, either the cognitive dissonance will eventually break you mentally, or you're mistaken.
Besides, OP asked specifically for progressive/ liberal churches and is doing her research, so you won't get anywhere trying to get her to go to conservative ones, however you dress it up.

@confusedworshipper I’ve seen Downing Place URC mentioned and I can personally vouch for how welcoming and inclusive it is. I’m not a member, but my husband is. However, whenever I’ve attended with him I’ve been welcomed with open arms every time. There is Junior Church for the kiddies, and there are regular ‘All Age’ services where they are included and catered to within the main service. Worship is a mixture of more traditional & modern: two churches merged to form DPURC a few years ago and brought different styles with them, which is reflected in the services; there’s also a rotation of visiting preachers that means variation in approach too. They host Open Table for the LGBTQ+ community every month. Presbyterian governance which means lots of opportunities for involvement, including in decision-making for the church.
As I said, I’m not a member but I do see it up close, and I’m always very impressed by how lively the church community is, and how they live up to the ‘inclusive’ tag.

Thank you sounds great! I am going to do a tour of a few over the next few weeks and Downing Place URC is definitely on the list :)

Good luck! I hope you find somewhere you love.

Our Lady and English Martyrs Catholic Church is beautiful. 11 o’clock Mass on Sunday is a treat. Tea and coffee afterwards. Plenty more services available.
Congregation from many cultures. Visitors are made most welcome.

My friend used to go to St Andrew the Great when she lived in Cambridge, she said it was very welcoming and I can't imagine her being part of something non inclusive - but I do agree with the PP about the dissonance between people's personal ideals and what they will accept at church; so no guarantees.

This is actually the main outwardly conservative evangelical one! I read an interesting Reddit thread on it. If you google the name of it +reddit you will find it.