an open, welcoming Christian community exploring the meaning of faith today
Whoever you are, you will be welcome at All Hallows Church. We are a Christian community trying to follow the challenge of Jesus of Nazareth to love ourselves, our neighbours and our enemies in inner-city Leeds in the new millennium. We aim to be open, welcoming and inclusive, exploring the meaning of God’s love for all people — women, men, black, white, gay, straight, older or younger — and trying to meet the needs of people who feel damaged or marginalised. With others in the area, we work for justice, reconciliation and to inspire hope. Desmond Tutu’s phrase ‘the rainbow people of God’ underlies our use of the rainbow symbol — coming from a variety of backgrounds, ages and lifestyles, we celebrate and affirm our God-given diversity.
As a general church community we would not fit easily into a traditional label. Our liturgical practice is strongly eucharistic, broadly catholic, but also with an experience of and commitment to more experimental liturgies and non-liturgical worship. There is a tradition of healing ministry through prayer, laying on of hands and anointing, which takes place once a month. There has been a great deal of teaching about contemplative prayer, and its practice has become a regular feature for some members of the church.
The congregation is very mixed and comes from a variety of Christian traditions. We are often referred to as a ‘refugee’ church, meeting the needs of people who feel damaged or marginalised by the main Christian traditions for a variety of reasons, including sexuality. A member of the congregation once described All Hallows as a ‘last-chance saloon’ for those on the way out of the Church and also for those seeking to find a way in. Others are attracted by the parish’s open and exploratory style of belief (influenced by radical theology, liberation theology and feminist theology), its strong commitment to inclusive language in worship, and its creativity in liturgical practice. We are committed to strive to be fully inclusive, open and welcoming to all; as part of this we have signed up to be a Welcoming and Open Congregation in Changing Attitude’s scheme and have joined Inclusive Church.
There is a real desire to express faith in terms which are culturally relevant to the communities in which we are situated, and we have begun to do this in small ways. Our developing community ministry through the All Hallows Community Project is an example of the way in which we attempt to work this out together.
All Hallows has produced (and continues to produce) many ordinands, including our previous vicar, Ray Gaston, who turned up one Sunday morning in November 1988 as a very sceptical seeker. We are strongly in favour of women’s ordination and have had very positive experiences of women’s ministry. The parish was one of the first in the diocese to be licensed as a local ministry parish. We are committed to clergy and laity sharing ministry and working together co-operatively, encouraging everyone to use their gifts and to lead in areas where they have expertise.