Bath Abbey

12 Kingston Buildings,

Bath BA1 1LT

Tel: -

+44 (0)1225 422462
Fax: -

+44 (0)1225 429990

email: -
office@bathabbey.org

 The Abbey - "the Lantern of the West" - has been through the ages a source of spiritual light in the centre of the city and in the surrounding region.  Abbey members seek to allow the light of Christ to shine ever brighter by:

1. providing a variety of opportunities for worship that gives glory to God, that is rooted in the Bible, and that enables as wide a range of people as possible to encounter Him.
2. striving to become a Spirit-led family, nurtured and renewed by prayer, study and mutual support, and expressing the quality of our life together by our service to the wider community and by our willingness to share our faith with others.
3. encouraging all our members in their witness and in the development of their spiritual gifts and skills, affirming them in their Christian service, and providing training and support as needed.
4. caring for the needs of families; fostering the spiritual growth of children and young people, with the aim of helping them to a personal commitment to Christ.
5. welcoming visitors and tourists with sincerity and warmth; interpreting to them the building and the faith that brought it into being; and providing a spiritual oasis where people can be aware of the presence of God and share in prayer and worship.
6. developing an active concern for the life of the city; showing God's involvement in it through the special services we host; helping in areas of local need; and acting wherever possible ecumenically.
7. serving as a spiritual resource and centre of pilgrimage for the wider community outside Bath; for diocesan purposes; and for musical and other cultural events that give glory to God.
8. building links with Christians overseas; welcoming members of overseas churches; offering informed prayer; going as well as giving.
9. letting the Abbey witness for Christ by faithfully conserving the precious heritage of its fabric; by our care in revealing its beauty and explaining its history; and by the quality of the welcome we offer within it.
10. responding to God's love for us by giving sacrificially, so that our stewardship may truly reflect the depth of our commitment to Christ.

The Abbey Message

Jesus was born in an obscure town in Israel called Bethlehem, about 2000 years ago.  During his first 30 years he shared the daily life and work of an ordinary home.  For the next 3 years he went about teaching people about God and healing sick people by the shores of Lake Galilee.  He called 12 ordinary men to be his helpers.

He had no money.  He wrote no books.  He commanded no army. He wielded no political power.  During his life he never travelled more than 200 miles in any direction.  He was executed by being nailed to a cross at the age of 33.

Today over 900 million people throughout the world worship Jesus as divine - the son of God.  Their experience has convinced them that in the wonders of nature we see God as our loving Father; in the person of Jesus we discover God as Son; and in our daily lives we encounter this same God as Spirit.  Jesus is our way in to finding God: we learn about Jesus by reading the Bible, particularly the New Testament and we meet him directly in our spiritual experience.

Jesus taught us to trust in a loving and merciful Father and to pray to him in faith for all our needs.  He taught that we are all infinitely precious, children of one heavenly Father, and that we should therefore treat one another with love, respect and forgiveness.  He lived out what he taught by caring for those he met; by healing the sick; a sign of God's love at work; and by forgiving those who put him to death.

Jesus's actions alone would not have led him to a criminal's death on the cross: but his teaching challenged the religious and moral beliefs of his day.  Jesus claimed to be the only way to reach God.  Above all, he pointed to his death as God's appointed means of bringing us self-centred people back to God.  Jesus also foretold that he would be raised to life again 3 days after his death.  When 3 days after he had died on the cross his followers did indeed meet him alive again, frightened and defeated men became fearless and joyful messengers.

Their message of the good news about Jesus is the direct reason why this Abbey exists.  More important, it is the reason why all over the world there are Christians who know what it means to meet the living Jesus, and who believe that he alone has the key to human life.