A blue Bristol glass baptismal font is illuminated by rays of sun in front of a large church door where you can see the garden trees beyond.
A young woman and a young nonbinary person stand next to each other, one smiling at the camera. There is a pride flag on the altar behind them and you can spot a vicar too.

A weekly, inclusive (church?)

community in Bristol

Lots of big saucepans full of pasta and stew sit on a table in the church with people helping themselves to the food.
A joyful man with glasses, gray hair, and a pink cane, sitting next to a blonde woman, both laughing at something someone has said, inside our church.
An elderly gentleman sits on a bench outside in the church garden potting plants, with a cute cocker spaniel at his feet.

Looking for an
inclusive church?

Foundation is a radical, creative, socially engaged and contemplative Christian spiritual community.

Some people walking round a small-scale solar system model made of string lights and metallic spheres, arranged in concentric circles on the floor. The light is streaming through the windows.

What to expect

We meet every Sunday evening at 7pm at Cotham Parish Church. We love trying new, experimental ways of doing church, but there’s usually music, discussion and readings. Our Sundays follow a pattern based on our four core values:

  • God is an artist, and all of us have the creative spirit in us in one way or another. On creative weeks we like to use art, poetry, film, writing, or new ways of thinking, to inspire us.

    That might look like trying Visio Divina on a make-shift art gallery, drawing family memories in crayons to think about our roots, or even writing haikus. There is never any ‘artistic’ skill level required!

  • Rest and calm can be hard to come by these days. We try to bring contemplation into all of our services, which might include short periods of silence, reflective discussion to try out un-polished thoughts, or very simple forms of being present and reflecting inspired by Christian mystics.

    Our monthly rest service has very simple liturgy, lots of silence, and space for contemplation.

  • Jesus didn’t just talk about doing good, he got on with it. It’s really important to us to be engaged in social issues and always learning more about how we can care for people and planet.

    Our engage services could be anything from hearing about Palestine from the Amos Trust, to sitting in the garden and learning how to care better for nature. We cover all sorts of social issues and always try to leave room for nuance.

  • Many of us have been to churches who called themselves inclusive, only to find there were hidden conditions. We do everything we can to be as inclusive as possible - check out our inclusive page for more details.

    To help us get closer as a community, we have a monthly Table service, where we either eat together, or share the eucharist (bread and wine), and participation is optional!

People gathered inside a church with high ceilings, stained glass windows, and rainbow pride flags, some sitting at tables and others standing and talking, for one of our create services.

What’s it like?

“Since coming to Foundation I’ve really felt comfortable meeting new people there and enjoying the services that are on.

It’s always insightful and nice to learn new things with a very positive and loving community. I’m really grateful! 😊”
— Rhiannon
“Foundation is a great place to think about ‘life and faith’ together. The social space is just as important - a place to reflect and ‘think aloud’ and re-imagine a better, fuller life.”
— Mike
A group of people sitting in camping chairs in a circle outdoors in David's garden. There is a table with a makeshift altar in the middle and the trees and bushes in the garden are beautiful.

Interested?

We send out a weekly email letting you know what’s happening, with a short reflection. Sign up to see what we’re up to, or view past weeks on our Substack.

If you’d like to contact us directly, click the contact page. But please do feel free to just turn up on Sunday at 7pm!