ABOUT US
St Augustine’s and St Clement’s churches in BD3 are two Church of England parishes belonging to a shared Benefice.
We share a Vicar, the Revd Rosy Fairhurst, and we love doing things together.
The Heart is St Augustine’s, coming from St Augustine of Hippo’s symbol of the heart: ‘Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.’ The Anchor is St Clement’s, coming from St Clement of Rome’s symbol of the anchor: a great supporter of the poor, he was martyred by drowning. The heart symbolises Love; the anchor, Hope; and we are united by God's gift of Faith in Jesus Christ. We love to share our Love, Hope and Faith with others.
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Each church has its own PCC (church council) and we have two joint meetings a year, as well as some shared services and events. They have their own distinct identities - as you will discover when you visit!
OUR VISION
Our vision is to share God’s love and our sure hope in Jesus Christ, the anchor of our souls, through sustainable faith-inspired action in BD3 and beyond.
WHAT WE DO
We worship and learn together, encourage one another to go deeper and further in our journeys of faith, and reach out in love, service and witness in BD3 and the places we live and engage with beyond. We support two community projects which we founded – Community Works and the Anchor Project - and we seek to use our buildings for the benefit of the whole community.
OUR COMMUNITY
Our setting is multicultural, including longstanding faithful members who remember BD3 when it looked very different, economic migrants and refugees, young and old, families and singles. We aim to be friendly and accepting of all sorts of different people. We recognise that we are a minority faith now in the area, and aim to be respectful and in dialogue with people of other faiths, wanting to learn as well as to share our faith in Jesus Christ.
Schools
St Augustine’s school is now part of Westminster Primary school and we connect with them. We welcome Local schools to visit us. We look forward to the arrival of our newly appointed Children’s and Youth Worker to help develop our outreach.
St Clement’s welcomes local schools and community groups to visit the church and learn about our faith and history through a guided journey through its magnificent arts and crafts.
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St Augustine's originally had its own church school for many years in the purpose built buildings next door to the church. It was much loved and many people remember their time their happily. We have a couple of former teachers there in our current congregation.
When St Augustine's was merged with another school it moved into the new buildings for what was named Westminster School. It is still connected to us as a church school. Our Children's and Youth Worker Anna Gulland takes assemblies there most weeks and is our church's School Governor.
The Anchor Project was founded by St Clement's Church in 2004, as a community project to serve the people of BD3. Indi Elcock has led the project since its inception and is also a PCC Member at St Clement's. The Anchor Project became an independent charity in 2016. Rev Rosy Fairhurst and Lucky Igharo are members of the Trustees from St Clement's and John Joyce from St Peter's RC is our Chair. We are also incredibly grateful to Fr Nick Clews for his work as Treasurer to the Project. We have church members who are users and volunteers at the project and enjoy a close working relationship.
The Project operates from St Clement's Monday-Friday during term time. Most activities happen from the West End Rooms. The Anchor Project Office is situated at the East End of the church (up the drive and on the right). The Project also holds an annual BD3 Garden Festival in the summer.
Anchor Project runs an elder's lunch, a drop-in for asylum seekers with food and second-hand clothes, a parent-toddler group and English language classes, one conversational and one for women only. 
If you would like to find out more, please visit their website: www.anchorproject.org.uk or contact info@anchorproject.org.uk
Community Works
St Augustine's has been involved in community outreach for a long time. It used to have its work based at North Wing in Wapping until that building was sold to help finance buying the former St Augustine's Primary School, next door to St Augustine's church, in partnership with the local community, to found Community Works.
Jane Lees is the Leader of Community Works and has been there since the beginning. Rosy Fairhurst and Janet Naylor are Church Trustees and we are looking for two more Christians who would be willing to join us on the Board to fill the church places. We are always interested in people from the wider community who would be willing to serve in this way.
Community Works has grown like topsy over the years. St Augustine's is currently partnering with Community Works on the Ignite project which offers support for local unaccompanied asylum seekers. Our children's and youth worker Anna Gulland heads this up. Community Works offers a wide range of different activities and services ranging from benefits and employment advice, elders activities, a lot of sports activities, holiday clubs and English language classes, not forgetting its nursery which was awarded an Outstanding in its last Ofsted inspection.
You can browse the full spectrum and look for any in detail if you follow this link to their website:
Our People
Our Vicar
Rosy Fairhurst has been Vicar of St Augustine's & St Clement's since September 2018. Previously she has served in the Hackney Marsh Team, St Mary's Islington, Ripon College Cuddesdon and at Leicester Cathedral as well as spending working with The Grubb Institute as an organisational analyst from 2006-2011.
She comes from the red rose county (shh) and enjoys art, film, gardening and her kitten Rory amongst many other things.
Our Children's and Youth Worker
Anna Gulland arrived as Anna Bryden in May 2020 and has been connecting with our church children and youth and reaching out into the schools and community with artistic flair ever since.
She married Bruce in the summer of 2021. Anna worked previously as a primary school teacher in Leeds.
Our Administrator
Liam Beadle is our new part-time administrator. He lives in Saltaire with his partner Alex and a cat called Florence. When Liam is not being our parish administrator, he is often to be found at St Chad's Toller Lane in Bradford BD8, where he is the parish priest.