itle>Welcome to Trinity Church Cheltenham




Vicar's Welcome
Trinity Story
Vision & Values
Service Times
Trinity Story

Trinity originally came into being in 1824 as an overflow from the Parish Church in the town centre. The first minister was Francis Close, familiar in Cheltenham as the founder of Dean Close School and St Paul's College, which is now part of the University of Gloucestershire. The Church opened with an address from the famous Rev Charles Simeon.

Throughout its history, Trinity has gone through highs and lows, being on the point of closure 25 years ago. Under the ministry of a retired missionary and prayers from the remaining nucleus of people, change slowly began to happen - enough that the threat of redundancy was withdrawn, and under 2 subsequent vicars the church continued to grow and reach out into the community.

Mark Bailey came to lead Trinity in 1994, and has continued to serve in that role to this day, during which time the church has seen an exciting move of the Spirit of God, resulting in extended growth. There are now in excess of 1,000 people who worship on a regular basis. In addition to being the primary teacher at our main services, Mark oversees the Trinity Staff, Leadership team, Cluster Leaders, trains up ministry leaders and helps set the vision and direction for the whole church.

Since 1994 the church has had a major refurbishment project, where pews have been replaced with chairs, carpet aided, and the décor changed to enable greater flexibility in the building's use. In 2000, we also purchased a 3 storey building immediately behind the church premises (Trinity House) which has increased our opportunities for ministry enormously. It is used for Kidz Church on Sundays and a variety of mid-week activities for all ages. By the end of 2004 it became clear that there needed to be 4 services on a Sunday to make room for more growth which presented further challenges of space for Kidz church and coffee after the services. So in January 2005 the 'Trinity Growth Project' was launched and most of the Staff and administrative team moved out of Trinity House to offices near the Odeon cinema called Winchcombe house. We also have begun meeting on a monthly basis at the Centaur, the conference venue 1 mile up the road at Cheltenham racecourse.

Trinity is one of the key churches in the New Wine Network; it is one of the regional centres for New Wine's work in Britain.

As we look to the future, our passion is to be a church that is firing on all cylinders:

  • A church that has Jesus right at the centre.

  • Preaches the Bible and feeds people from God's word on a regular basis so that people become mature disciples.

  • Engages in mission - that not only evangelises its community but communicates further afield.

  • Worships God fervently.

  • Experiences the power of the Holy Spirit.

  • Affects the cultural and political life of the larger community.

  • Reaches not only adults and young adults, but also children and young people, the elderly and disadvantaged.


  • In short - a church which fulfils the multi-dimensional picture of church life in the New Testament.
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