Information for Visitors

10am Sunday Worship

A warm welcome awaits you to make sure you feel ‘at home’ and have everything you need. Here are some notes which you may find helpful:

We see ourselves as Christians from a variety of church backgrounds who have chosen to gather in the village’s parish church to worship together, support each other and grow in faith.
We use a variety of traditional printed booklets in contemporary language to guide us through the service.
We celebrate Holy Communion every week.
We follow the Church of England’s pattern of readings to hear both the Old and New Testament plus the Gospel.
There is a sermon every week.
We enjoy uplifting hymns and songs.
Members of the congregation offer prayers of intercession.
The weekly pew news sheet contains additional prayers and useful information about the life of the church.
There is filter coffee after church often with home-made cake.
The service is live streamed for those who cannot attend in person. But people who do come on a Sunday sometimes look back at the recording during the week to hear the sermon or the prayers again.

If you would like to delve more deeply into what we do and why then read the article called ‘God’s Hospitality’.

Other weekly services

Service times and other events are available in our church calendar and in the graphic at the head of this page. Gateway is an informal time for discussion and sharing of questions and ideas around a theme in a supportive environment to encourage us as we seek to discover more about life and faith. The title Gateway is inspired by Jesus who is the gate for the sheep and the way, the truth and the life.

Where is Scaynes Hill?

Scaynes Hill is a village in England It is pretty close to the centre of Sussex (East and West), east of the town of Haywards Heath, and, very roughly, about a third of the way from Brighton to London.

How do I get to St Augustine’s?

Unless you live in or near to Scaynes Hill, the answer is probably going to involve a car. Public transport is limited in Scaynes Hill.

There are no car parks near the church, but it is generally possible to find street parking not too far away — but please don’t park at the far end of St Augustine’s Close (this is the area behind the church and in front of the flats) which, as a notice there states, is “Residents Only Parking”. Broadly speaking, the earlier you arrive, the better are your prospects of finding a parking space close to the church.

If you have stumbled upon this site whilst looking for a church, but cannot realistically travel to Scaynes Hill to worship with us, then you can look for a more convenient place of worship at A Church Near You.

What facilities are there for people with disabilities?

There is wheelchair access through the annexe doors. There is an accessible toilet in the annexe.

For people with hearing difficulties, a loop system is available. For people with vision problems, large print copies of our service books are usually available.

Please let us know if you have any specific requirements.

What should I wear?

We recommend clothes of some sort. Even in very hot weather you will probably feel more comfortable if you are clothed than if you are not.

Seriously, wear clothes that you feel comfortable wearing. If they are particularly out of the ordinary then they may turn heads, but if you are used to wearing out of the ordinary clothes you are probably used to turning heads. Don’t feel that you must wear special clothes because it’s church; only the Vicar has to do that. In particular, hats are entirely optional for female members of the congregation.

What sort of people go to St Augustine’s?

Quite similar people to the ones that don’t. We come in different sizes, different ages, men and women, girls and boys, with different personalities, different interests, and different occupations. If you live in Scaynes Hill, you have probably met some of us. We have problems to face in our lives, just as often as people who don’t go to any church have problems — perhaps different problems, perhaps the same problems. We believe that, as Christians, we have help in facing those problems, but that doesn’t mean that we do not have them.

One thing we are not is people who believe that we are better or holier than others. If we really were as holy as all that, why should we need to go to Church? Much more importantly, we believe that God so loved the world that he sent his son, Jesus, to die for us on the cross. If God values human beings, us, and you, and the people around us, that much, who are we to disagree with him?

Do you have an interesting history?

Yes, we do. Read about our history in the downloadable file below, or scroll down for links to further reading.

Church History Brochure 2024 (1)Download

You can find more details about the earlier history of the church here; and later history from 1949 here.

What will I find inside the church?

We have a number of interesting artifacts inside the church, notably: