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Welcome to the United Benefice of
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Whether you come to worship, to enjoy the peace, or to marvel at the beauty of the buildings, welcome to our churches.
Welcome to the Benefice of Axbridge, Shipham & Rowberrow
We comprise the churches of:
- St. John the Baptist, Axbridge
- St. Leonard, Shipham
- St. Michael & All Angels, Rowberrow.
Our Benefice serves these three places and also the hamlet of Star; the Benefice therefore serves a community of just over 3000 people. A Benefice is a group of churches who work together to serve their local communities. We regularly worship together so services don’t always happen in Axbridge; see Upcoming Services for information on what services are happening where.
We are a community of Christians who seek to follow Jesus’ commandments to love the living God and to love our neighbours. In addition to services and events for the worshipping community, St. John's hosts school and civic services plus traditional community events, such as fetes and fayres. St. John's also hosts a drop-in, Warm Spot, providing a friendly space for cake and chat every Monday. Shipham hosts school and village services, including the Harvest Home service. Shipham also hosts a drop-in, Lenny's Community Cafe, fortnightly, alternating with the local Save the Children lunches, at Shipham Village Hall.
Our churches are open daily from around 0930 – 1600 for private prayer and visitors. Well-behaved dogs are welcome inside.
At Axbridge, we have Church trails available for children and adults and a Churchyard trail. (A pilgrim's trail is in production.) At Rowberrow, we have Church trails available for children and adults and a pilgrim's trail. Shipham's trails are currently in production.
Come and find out more about the history behind our beautiful churches
Latest news
Prayer for Myanmar
We stand with all those who have suffered and who have lost loved ones in the recent earthquake.
God our Father, we bring to you everyone affected by the earthquake, both directly and indirectly.
We pray with urgency for those remaining alive and trapped and ask that they would be found and brought out. Be close to those in this position, Father, and reassure them of your love and care. Please guide those who are part of the rescue efforts to where they need to be in order to save lives. Give them the energy and resources they need to continue their vital work, Father.
We bring to you the families and friends of those who have died, asking for your comfort and peace for them. We pray, too, for those who have been injured, asking that further deaths will be prevented and for full and complete healing for them, both physical and mental. We also ask for healing for those who have been through or witnessed the devastation and now have mental scars in need of your healing. May those looking after anyone hurt in any way have the resources they need to bring about effective healing.
Father God, so many people have lost homes and livelihoods and Myanmar was already struggling with poverty and political upheaval. We ask for stability for Myanmar, both politically and economically, and for a fair future for its people. May people affected have shelter, food and clean water immediately and a good infrastructure to come.
Lord, may you be seen in all the work being done.
Amen
Lent leaflet now available
Weekly In Touch newsletter
So that you can receive the weekly notices and readings, In Touch is now available by email.
To subscribe click on this link, and complete and submit the form. You will receive an email with a confirmation link and a final email with your details. Please sign up by Thursday to receive the next Sunday's sheet.
Subscriptions are being run by Andy Goddard. If you have problems contact him by email: intouch@acgnleg.org.uk. For submissions to In Touch, please contact intouch.asr@gmail.com
Fairtrade Church
The Fairtrade movement aims to changes the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fairer deal for farmers and workers, particularly in developing countries.
St John’s is registered as a Fairtrade Church with the Fairtrade Foundation and we only use fairly traded tea, coffee and sugar at all church events. We try to raise awareness of fairtrade by encouragement to choose fairly traded goods and by promoting the meaning of fairtrade through our prayers and worship.
In addition to refreshments served at church events, we also sell fairly traded goods through direct sales and through stalls, including a regular monthly stall in the Axbridge Farmers’ Market.
From the small profits made from our sales in 2023 we were able to donate £850 to the fairtrade charity Transform Change and we also made donations to St. John’s.
Buy where you see this logo!
Eco Church
We are a silver Eco Church. This is 'A Rocha UK’s award scheme for churches in England and Wales who want to demonstrate that the gospel is good news for God’s earth.' For more information, please see the Eco Church website.
Safeguarding
We take the safety and wellbeing of everyone seriously. Michelle Hacker is our Safeguarding Officer for all three parishes in the Benefice. If you have a concern about someone, please contact her on 07421 502023 or asrsafeguarding@gmail.com. Alternatively, please contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team (led by Ben Goodhind) on 07834 514842 or 01749 588917, or ben.goodhind@bathwells.anglican.org.
Virtual Tour of Church
A virtual tour of Axbridge Church is available on Google Maps.
Last Updated by HJF 30 Mar 2025