Our church is part of the Church of England and is in the Diocese of Durham 

   We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who, through his cross and resurrection, has the power to transform the lives of ordinary men and women through his Holy Spirit.

   We believe that God has given us the Scriptures to inform us, not only of what He has done in the past, but to guide his people in how they are to live today.

   We believe that God wants us to share, by word and deed, the Good News of Jesus with others.

   Link up here for a  fuller description of what our parent Church, the Anglican Church, believes.

The Parish Church of Saint Mary and Saint Cuthbert is the only parish church in the town of Chester-le-Street.

For most of the last century we have been a fairly traditional, middle-of-the-road church, but over the past thirty years have developed a more definitely evangelical identity (influenced in part by the charismatic renewal).

Perhaps it would be best to describe our church as open evangelical, that is:-
while maintaining our evangelical identity, we attempt to be open to the treasures that are to be found in the other (catholic and liberal) traditions within the Anglican Church.

Services  vary enormously in style: traditional said 1662 Holy Communions, Common Worship Evensongs and Holy Communion services with robed choir, informal family services held in school halls and very informal prayer and praise meetings.

We don’t quite provide something for everybody, but we are trying hard!

At the heart of our church life is the grace of God, as shown and shared through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Through all the many and varied interests and activities of our church, we proclaim and share the truth and love of Jesus Christ, through word and deed.

At the 1100^th Anniversary of our parish in 1983, the Bishop of Jarrow suggested that the initials for Chester-le-Street (CLS) should stand for a Community of Love and Service. We continually strive to make this ideal a reality.