# Cross Reach Churches > LOVING JESUS AND OUR COMMUNITIES ## Posts - [Coming up in April](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2026/03/26/coming-up-in-april/): Come and find out what's going on in April... - [Coming up in March](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2026/02/27/coming-up-in-march/): We’ve got loads going on this March, including a concerts, afternoon teas, and floral workshops. - [Coming Up in January & February](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2026/01/13/coming-up-in-january-february/): We’ve got lots going on at the beginning of this year...come and find out more! - [Coming Up in November](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2025/11/07/coming-up-in-november/): Light a Candle Community ‘All Souls’ Service And as we head into November, there will be a chance to gather together to remember those we love who are no longer with us. It’s our Light a Candle service, held with our friends at Paskells, which includes the opportunity to have names read aloud and light a candle in memory of a loved one. It’s on Saturday 1 November at 11am at Mistley Church, and everyone is welcome. To find out more, please contact us here, or speak to the team at Paskells. Wreath Workshop Our extremely talented flower team will be leading […] - [Coming Up in September & October](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2025/09/11/coming-up-in-september-october/): We've got loads going on this Autumn, including a dog show, valuation morning, Harvest, concerts, quizzes and more! - [Coming up in August](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2025/08/15/coming-up-in-august/): We've got lots coming up through August and September, including Messy Church and a Musical Talent afternoon, and everyone is welcome! - [Cross Reach Churches](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2023/10/05/cross-reach-churches/): Loving Jesus and building community in North Essex This website is under construction! We meet in three locations each Sunday: Bradfield at 9:30am, Mistley at 10:15am, and Lawford at 11am. Each community has a different feel (Lawford is more contemporary, Mistley and Bradfield a bit more traditional). We’d love to see you! ## Pages - [Easter at Cross Reach Churches](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/easter-at-cross-reach-churches/): Join us for Easter this year at Cross Reach Churches. We've got activities and services for all ages and styles of worship... - [Cross Reach Churches Parish Profile](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/cross-reach-churches-parish-profile/): Please find our Parish Profile document here. If you have any problems accessing it, or any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You’ll find our contact details here. - [Accessibility](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/accessibility/): We are committed to ensuring digital accessibility for everyone. This means that on this website you should be able to: Change the size of the text and line height Change the text alignment and the font Edit the contrast and set it in greyscale Change the page’s structure Use a reading mask Hide images and pause animations Highlight links To do this just click the yellow round icon at the bottom right of the screen. We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of Cross Reach Churches website. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on our website. We will consider […] - [Safeguarding](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/safeguarding/): We are committed to Safeguarding Children, Young People, and Vulnerable Adults. The PCCs have adopted the Church of England’s policies and best practice on safeguarding which may be found on the Church of England’s website. Our Benefice Safeguarding Representatives are Lorna Osborne and Moira French, who may be contacted at church or by email safeguarding@manningtreebenfice.co.uk and lawford.safe@crossreachchurches.co.uk . Please note that these email addresses are only for safeguarding enquiries. - [News & Events](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/news/) - [Wider Community](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2-wider-community/): We believe in loving our neighbour. We hope and pray that we show that in the work that we do throughout the community. Local Community Mistley Church Hall: Mistley has a separate Church Hall, which can be hired for community use as well as use for the churches. It’s a grade 2 listed building, originally built in 1911, and is owned and managed by Mistley Church Council. As it is centrally situated in the village it offers great potential with historical and architectural character and is used by community and church groups. If you’d like to find out more about […] - [The Team](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2-the-team/): We have a wonderful team of people in our churches who work together to make sure that everything runs smoothly. These people are the ones you’re most likely to meet, or need to contact. We’re so grateful to everyone who helps in big and small ways, making sure that we can continue to reach out with the love of Jesus!  Vicars Rector – in vacancy John – Associate Minister Sam – Associate Minister Nicky – Curate David – Retired Minister Paul – Retired Minister Stephen – Retired Minister Ray – Retired Minister Authorised Team Dee – Lay Minister Julie – […] - [Who We Are](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2-who-we-are/): OUR HEART LOCATIONS TEAM - [Visitors & Life Events](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2-visitors-life-events/): If you would like to know more about visiting our churches for the first time, or about contacting us to arrange services for Life Events, please read on here. We know that visiting or trying to arrange a special service can seem daunting, so we hope these pages can help to make that a little bit easier. If you have any questions not covered here, please feel free to contact the Church Office – we’d love to speak with you. VISITORS LIFE EVENTS - [Groups & Church Community](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2-groups-church-community/): We have lots of regular groups meeting in our churches and in the community and you’re welcome to join in! If you’d be interested in coming to any of these groups, please contact the Church Office for more information. Prayer & Study: Morning Prayers – meets weekly in Mistley Church, Thursday at 8.30am. Short informal time for Bible reading and prayer. Monthly Prayer Group – Meets monthly in Lawford, Wednesday at 10.30am. Home Groups and courses – various short courses for lent or advent, plus a number of Home Groups. Music: Choirs – There are choirs in each church which work together, generally at […] - [Life Events](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2-life-events/): Baptisms or Christenings Most of the text here relates to services of Thanksgiving and Baptism for children, but we are thrilled to baptise adults, and it all still applies! We offer two different services for the purposes of giving thanks, of sharing your joy, intentions and promises with the church-family, and in return, receiving prayer and support. A baptism or christening is a commitment to follow Jesus and the journey of Christianity. It is made by the person being baptised, or their parents and godparents if they’re too young to make that commitment. We hold our baptism services within our main […] - [Regular Services](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2-regular-services/): Our churches gather together each Sunday, and we’d love to welcome you. We usually meet at 9.30am in Bradfield, 10.15am in Mistley, and 11am in Lawford. This represents our normal, regular pattern, but we do have occasional changes for special services and festivals. For up to date service info, check our Facebook page, where we update every Friday with services for that weekend, or you can contact the Church Office.  9.30AM AT BRADFIELD 10.15 AT MISTLEY 11.00AM AT LAWFORD 9.30am at Bradfield: this is usually a more formal or traditional-style service, alternating between services of Holy Communion and Morning Prayer. […] - [Visitors](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2-visitors/): Services Where is the service? First, check on the Regular Services page if you’re wanting to go to a specific service. If you’d just like to come and visit, there is normally a service every week at 9.30am at Bradfield, at 10.15am at Mistley, and 11am at Lawford. Very occasionally, if we are having a Joint Service, or a service with the other churches in the area, we will not be meeting in normal places or at normal times. If this is the case, we will do our best to let people know via our regular email, Facebook, local publications, and […] - [What We Do](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/2-what-we-do/): We love to meet together on Sundays, but our Church family life includes lots more! It is made up of many things that also include mid-week services and extra services for special days in the Church calendar; regular groups for friendship and support, study, prayer, children’s activities, and shared interests; support for and links with community groups; and services for life events including baptisms, weddings, and funerals (see here). REGULAR SERVICES GROUPS WIDER COMMUNITY NEWS & EVENTS - [](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/): Welcome to Cross Reach Churches We are a group of three parishes in north Essex, meeting in Mistley with Manningtree, Lawford, and Bradfield, with a desire to worship God, to love each other, to grow in in the knowledge and love of Jesus, and to serve the communities around us. We meet every week for worship, teaching, prayer, and friendship. You can find out about Sunday services here, and other groups through the week here. We are also privileged to hold baptisms, weddings, and funerals. If you’d like to know more about those services, click here. We love to welcome visitors and new […] - [Our Heart](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/our-heart/): We are here:   Why ‘Cross Reach’? Our northern parish boundaries follow the course of the River Stour. Near the eastern end of Mistley lies a stretch of the river called ‘Cross Reach’. Running from the quay, out into the estuary, people pass through Cross Reach every day, going out on their adventures, and coming back home. We named our Church Group after this stretch of the river, to remember that we should be reaching out with the love of Jesus – the same love that reached out to us. We named it to remember that we are all on […] - [Locations](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/our-locations/): Cross Reach Churches is a group of three parishes, each with a church building where we meet. St. Mary & St. Michael’s, Mistley with Manningtree (CO11 1ER) is between Manningtree and Mistley High Street. Mistley Church is normally open during the week whenever possible, and has facilities including a disabled toilet. The main access through the South Porch is wheel-chair accessible. There is a small car park next to the church, and plenty of road parking outside. Mistley also has the Church Hall (or The Institute) near Mistley Towers. It’s available for hire, either for regular groups, or for one-off […] - [Contact us](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/contact-us/): Our Church Office is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, and whether you email, call, or leave a message, we’ll do our best to get back to you. Call on 01206 392301 (Mon & Thurs) or 07436 398801 (Tues, Thurs & Fri) Email office@crossreachchurches.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/CrossReachChurches We also send out a weekly email newsletter, which includes all the services for the week, news, updates, prayer requests, and a copy of the fortnightly news sheet that you can also find in our churches. We also use this mailing list to occasionally let you know about other events or church-family news […] - [What to expect](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/what-to-expect/): Joining a new community is hard: coming through the door and meeting a bunch of new people is daunting for all of us. When you join us, someone should meet you at the door to say hello, and to welcome you in. If you have any questions about what’s going on, you can speak with them – or any of the other people in the church. Although each of our communities is different, they all share certain common things. When you come along to a service on a Sunday, you can expect to find: If you have any questions about […] - [What we believe](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/what-we-believe/): You don’t need to believe the same things as us to come along and join in: we want to welcome you, and we believe that God loves you. We also believe: You can find out more details about what Anglicans believe on the Church of England website, by clicking here. - [Welcome to the Cross Reach Churches](https://crossreachchurches.co.uk/index.php/welcome-to-the-cross-reach-churches/): We are a group of three church communities, gathering together in North Essex. At the heart of our shared lives together is the belief that God loves everyone, and that we can know his love personally through Jesus. We know that we are far from perfect, but we are loved: and so are you. You can find out more about what we believe by clicking here, or you could come along to one of our Sunday meetings. Each of our communities meets every Sunday for worship, teaching, prayer, and friendship. We’d love to welcome you. If you want to find […] [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)