Welcome

Whoever you are and however you've found us, welcome! You may have grown up in church all your life, or you may never have set foot in one. Either way, we're really glad you're here, and we'd love to meet you in person.

Let us be honest with you from the start, Emmanuel is made up of very imperfect people. We're not a gathering of the sorted, the polished, or the especially religious. We're a mixed bunch from all sorts of backgrounds, generations, and nations who have one thing in common — we've been made family by the sheer grace of God in Jesus Christ. If you're looking for a perfect church, we'll disappoint you within the week. If you're looking for a church where imperfect people are honest about needing a Saviour, you'll be right at home.

We do believe something about you, though, before we've even met you: you matter. Not because a website says so, but because the Bible does. Every person is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Every person is known by Him, valued by Him, and made to know Him. That conviction shapes how we hope to welcome you: not as a visitor number, but as someone God made.

At the centre of our life together is a message the Bible calls the gospel — the good news that God, in great love, sent his Son Jesus Christ into the world to live the life we could not live, to die on a cross for our sins, and to rise again so that all who trust in him are forgiven and brought home to God. Everything we do, our singing, our praying, our preaching, our friendships, flows from that news. We'd love the chance to show you why we think it's the best news in the world.

So have a look around. You can find out what to expect on a Sunday, what we believe, and a little of our story. But better than any website, come and join us one Sunday morning. Come early or slip in late, ask hard questions or just sit and listen. You will be very welcome.

Our hope, in the end, is that this website doesn't so much point you to us as point you to Jesus.

-Jonathan, Pastor