A Bit About Us
We aim to be an inclusive church. We are lots of different people: different ages, different backgrounds, different skills and different interests. However, the one thing we have in common is that we love Jesus and we try to live our lives the way He wants us to.
We don't always get it right - we haven't got all the answers, but we do our best to care for and support each other.
We work alongside other churches and organisations in the area to create an environment that people enjoy living in. Above all what we try to do is show people in practical ways that they matter. Our aim is for you to feel special - whether you've joined us on Sunday for worship or for something else during the week. We try to offer a range of activities and hope you will find something here for you. We are open to suggestions for new ideas.
Volunteer With Us
We are a registered charity (Charity Commission number 1127681) and we rely heavily on volunteers to carry out our community work and mission to the people of Broadwater, Worthing and beyond.
We have no 'central' income. The bulk of our income comes from the generous freewill giving of our congregation. It is supplemented by payments for room usage and now from our new initiative, The Lighthouse Soft Play and Cafe. By supporting us, you are supporting your community.
We are always looking for volunteers. Volunteering offers you the chance to develop key social, technical and life skills, and with training can help you find employment. Plus you have the satisfaction of knowing that you're helping your local community.
To find out more about becoming a volunteer, get in touch with us.
The Methodist Onion
You can think of Methodism being somewhat like an onion (no jokes about making you cry, please 😊).
As a church, we see ourselves at the heart of wider circles of community and fellowship around us.
In Methodism, no church exists in isolation. Every Methodist church belongs first to a group of local churches called a Circuit, so Offington Park belongs to the West Sussex (Coast and Downs) Circuit, encompassing 17 churches along the Sussex Coast. Beyond that, each circuit also belongs to a District (ours is the South-East District). Wider still, all those churches, circuits and districts belong to the Methodist Church of Great Britain. This is far more than just an umbrella organisation. We call it a 'Connexion' (yes, that is the right spelling), because we feel a great sense of connectedness and responsibility to the wider Methodist family.
However, at Offington Park we pretty much see ourselves as belonging to not one but two onions, because we are also at the heart a local community which extends out from the many organisations which meet on our premises to the surrounding neighbourhood of Broadwater and the wider community of Worthing.
The Methodist Logo
The logo of the Methodist Church incorporates an ‘Orb and Cross’ device.
It consists of a white cross on a red circle. The circle, or ‘Orb’, represents the world for whom Jesus Christ died so that a relationship with God could be made possible through the power of the Holy Spirit, here represented by the colour white.
You'll find representations of this logo all around our church, here at Offington Park.
The design is registered with the College of Arms who are the official heraldic authority in Great Britain.