At St Paul’s we seek to demonstrate God's love by serving the people of Crawley and the wider world in as many ways as we can.
Loaves and Fishes – our volunteer-run café is a popular meeting place with our own congregation, members of the local community and people coming into the building for the many classes and groups which hire our rooms.
Opening times - 10:30am-1:30pm Monday-Thursday in school term times
Why 'Loaves and Fishes'? It's a reminder of the time when over 5,000 people gathered by the Sea of Galilee hungry to hear Jesus's teaching. With the day drawing to a close, the disciples reminded Jesus that the people needed to be fed but the only food available was two loaves of bread and five fishes brought by a small boy. Miraculously, with these meagre resources everyone was fed.
Supporting charities – St Paul’s regularly supports the following charities. In addition our congregation is always generous in responding to appeals for emergency situations in the world.
Crawley Open House - Supports homeless people in Crawley by offering hostel accommodation, a Day Centre, advice services and other assistance. St Paul's supports Open House in practical ways such as collecting warm clothing for the winter months, food items at our Harvest Festivals and responding to cccasional emergency appeals as well as through regular prayer.
All We Can (Methodist Relief and Development) - An international relief and development charity, rooted in the Christian faith with a tradition of challenging injustice, and striving for a world where every community has the power, dignity, and resources to lead their own futures. We support All We Can with an annual monetary collection and asking our congregation to donate to emergency world stuations.
Christian Aid - This very well-known charity is a partnership of people, churches and local organisations committed to ending poverty worldwide. During Christian Aid Week in May of each year we raise funds by holding a week-long plant sale and collecting donations by cash and through a Just Giving web page.
WaterAid - An international, non-profit organisation with one goal: to change the world through water. Along with decent toilets and good hygiene, clean water is essential for health, dignity and a life full of opportunity. We support WaterAid by inviting people to drop their bits of loose change into a large water jar all round the year. The money collected is paid to WaterAid as part of our Harvest giving.
Action for Children - In 1869, Methodist minister, Reverend Dr Thomas Bowman Stephenson, saw some children living rough under the arches of Waterloo Station. Instead of walking by, he stopped to listen to their stories. Then he worked out the most practical way to help. On moving to London, he challenged the Methodist Church to take action to help children living on the streets. This led to the creation of the National Children’s Home (NCH) which in 1994 became NCH Action for Children, now known just as Action for Children. Each Advent and Christmas we appeal for cash donations and set up an internal Christmas card exchange service asking for donations to Action for Children in lieu of postage.