Saint Paul's Church, Landkey
In Brief
Next Service:
Holy Communion
(Second Sunday in Advent)
The next village event will be Planning Sub Committee Meeting on 6th December 2023 at 6:30 PM in The Old School Centre, Manor Road
Diocesan Magazine
Click here to visit the Exeter Diocese website
A link to the magazine is available on the Home page.
Safeguarding
Diocese of Exeter Safeguarding contacts
Recent Images
More ImagesAbout St Paul's
A Warm Welcome
All are welcome to join us for Anglican Christian worship at our parish church.
Whether you are new to worship or are a churchgoer of long standing, we will aim to help you to feel at home at St Paul's. On this page, we introduce you to some of the people whom you are likely to encounter during a visit to our church. We also describe the style of our services and make available liturgies to download. Behind the scenes, churches are run and managed like many organisations and the latest annual report on the activities of St Paul's may also be downloaded. Finally, we are part of a Mission Community group of churches who work together in spiritual matters and a note on these concludes this page.
Profile of Revd. Cathy Scoffield
Our vicar, Revd Cathy Scoffield, was Licensed at a well-attended evening service at St James' church, Swimbridge, on 15th June 2023. Here, Cathy shares with us some biographical information about herself and her family.
I was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, living there until we moved to Devon in 1999. My parents held to Christian faith but were not church-goers. Guiding linked us to faith through church parades and events. I always enjoyed hymn singing in school assemblies. The roots of my own Christian faith came via both my grandmothers whose love I still tangibly hold onto, and which inspires my own faith. I’m now blessed to be a grandmother myself.
On leaving secondary school, I joined our family business. A small, commercial printers in Birmingham, set up by my grandfather and father. I became an apprentice compositor, which was a great novelty at the time in an almost exclusively male domain. I learnt to set lead type (as William Caxton first did) alongside learning phototypesetting and desktop publishing. My father was a great innovator and entrepreneur, investing in new tech which intrigued and encouraged visitors as printing technologies rapidly developed.
In 1977 I met my husband Steve at a Red Cross maternal and childcare health course. Steve became maternally qualified, but I did not as I joined as a late attendee! This year we will have been married for 41 years. Our two daughters and grandchildren live locally in North Devon.
Following the birth of our first daughter in 1989, we contacted the local vicar to talk about a christening. The church ran a baby and toddler group, which I started to attend with our baby, Louise. It was a wonderfully fun and supportive group to belong to, as was the church which we soon regularly attended and became involved with. It was at this church that I discovered the importance and depth of Christian community which I seek to encourage in any church that I’m involved with.
In 1999, as a young family, we took a great leap of faith and left Bromsgrove to live and work at Lee Abbey Christian Conference Centre in Lynton. We joined the international, residential community which became an incredibly enriching and challenging time. The Lee Abbey community then comprised of many young people on gap years or 1-year visas. As a residential community we offered hospitality to 8,000+ guests each year. Steve ran the financial side of Lee Abbey for almost 11 years. Our children attended school in Lynton and Ilfracombe whilst I slotted into various administrative roles at Lee Abbey alongside hospitality and lay ministry, as the need arose. When we moved on in 2010 my role had become Personnel Manager to the international community. We are still blessed with so many international friends through our time at Lee Abbey. Whilst at Lee Abbey, I also completed an Open University degree, which includes modules in Public Health and theology.
Moving to Barnstaple in 2010, we joined our parish church which embedded us in local community life. Steve now works with national and international charities. I volunteered and then joined the staff at Freedom Social Projects, working with homeless and vulnerable adults at the Freedom Centre until 2017. Through our local church, I was encouraged by our dear vicar to explore a call to ordained ministry. Following recommendation for training, I trained with the South West Ministry Training Course, whilst continuing work at the Freedom Centre.
Ordained in 2016, I served my curacy at Newport and Bishops Tawton churches then continued as Associate Priest alongside my recent employed work as a PA and administrator in the Exeter Diocese Mission and Ministry Team.
Just to end with … I love living and being part of communities in North Devon. I feel strongly called to encourage our rural churches to live faithfully in today’s world, building community life, as together we seek to follow in Christ’s footsteps.
July 2023
Services
We aim to hold services in a style which is reverent but is also in touch with current ways and means. Our hymns are drawn from a range of sources and are played through an audio system with words projected onto a screen. There is now not so much need for hymn books. The sermons delivered by the members of our clergy are typically inspired and well researched, providing interesting scriptural insight and showing how this might apply to our daily lives.
We hold services in three main formats, these being Holy Communion, Morning Prayer and Family Service. Examples of the liturgies which we use for these may be downloaded via the links below.
Members of the congregation (or "lay" people) play a significant part in the life of the church. Scripture readings, with the exception of those from the Gospels, are provided by lay readers and the intercessional prayers are frequently led by a member of the congregation.
By holding regular church services at St Paul's, we hope to spread the love of God through "word, deed and sacrament". We believe that the love which comes from God is available to everyone and that we can play our part in sharing it through dignified services of worship in which the word of God may reach all who wish to listen to it. It is our belief that the "word" of God is expressed through the teachings and prayers of our services, while those who partake of Holy Communion ("the sacrament") commune directly with God and with each other.
Fuller details may be found on our "Service Times" page.
People
Members of the St Paul's clergy team and officers who serve on our Parochial Church Council (PCC) are shown here. They may be contacted directly with queries relating to their roles. Alternatively, if you would prefer to send us an email you may do so via this link: Contact Us.
Mrs Hazel Price, Churchwarden
Tel. 01271 831259
Mr Mike Foster, Churchwarden
Email
Mrs Josie Foster, member of the clergy team
Email
Charles Waldron, PCC secretary
Tel. 01271 831414
Services
We aim to hold services in a style which is reverent but is also in touch with current ways and means. Our hymns are drawn from a range of sources and are played through an audio system with words projected onto a screen. There is now not so much need for hymn books. The sermons delivered by the members of our clergy are typically inspired and well researched, providing interesting scriptural insight and showing how this might apply to our daily lives.
We hold services in three main formats, these being Holy Communion, Morning Prayer and Family Service. Examples of the liturgies which we use for these may be downloaded via the links below.
Members of the congregation (or "lay" people) play a significant part in the life of the church. Scripture readings, with the exception of those from the Gospels, are provided by lay readers and the intercessional prayers are frequently led by a member of the congregation.
By holding regular church services at St Paul's, we hope to spread the love of God through "word, deed and sacrament". We believe that the love which comes from God is available to everyone and that we can play our part in sharing it through dignified services of worship in which the word of God may reach all who wish to listen to it. It is our belief that the "word" of God is expressed through the teachings and prayers of our services, while those who partake of Holy Communion ("the sacrament") commune directly with God and with each other.
Fuller details may be found on our "Service Times" page.
Liturgies
Mission Community
St Paul's cooperates in matters of worship with three other churches and one chapel which are located nearby. These churches are St James, Swimbridge including the Chapel of the Holy Name Gunn, St Peter's West Buckland and St Michael's East Buckland. We refer to our group of churches as a Mission Community and the name of ours is the Four Ways Mission Community. More information on these churches is available on our "Mission Community" page.
Annual Report
The workings of our church, including the accounts, maintenance of the building and activities in general are detailed in our annual report, the latest of which may be downloaded here: