We are the Church of England parish church of St Leonard, serving the people of Lexden in Colchester. St Leonard’s is a vibrant, open and generous Christian community offering a range of activities and worship for all ages and backgrounds. We’re also honoured to support our community by conducting many baptisms, weddings and funerals. You can learn about all this and more on this website as well as through our facebook, twitter and Instagram feeds.
Do come and visit us! We’d love to welcome you – whether for a service, one of our community activities, or simply to look around our historic building. It doesn’t matter what your background is. It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t believe. You don’t need to be a “member”. And you certainly don’t need to have lived a perfect life! Whoever you are, you are always warmly welcome here. Our church building is usually open on weekday mornings, if you would like time for prayer and contemplation or just have a look round.
Church at St Leonard’s is about living as part of a group of ordinary, loving, generous people who seek to share God’s love with those around us. We’re a welcoming community that is inclusive and relaxed, with a variety of worship ranging from the fun and creativity of Messy Church, via the joy and breadth of our sung Parish Eucharist with robed ministers and choir, to the calm and beauty of our Book of Common Prayer, choral and contemplative services. We welcome those with babies or children of any age, have an all-age service on the first Sunday of the month, a Junior Church all other Sundays, and a youth group. We are blessed by the priestly ministry of women and men.
Most importantly, we seek to share God’s love with our community through the whole of our lives. A handful of the ways we try to do this include our work with those who are ill, lonely, or bereaved, with debt counselling services, the Colchester Soup Run, as well as popular activities like our toddler group, friendship lunches for those who’d like an opportunity for good company, our choir, and much more.
We hope you enjoy this website – and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, do please get in contact!
Matt
The Rev’d Matt Simpkins, Priest in Charge