Who we are
Welcome to St Dunstan’s Monks Risborough with St Peter’s Owlswick. Whether you’re exploring faith for the first time, looking for a church you can call home, or simply curious, we’re glad you’ve found us.
In our church family, you will find that we’re a mixture of all sorts of people, from different places and of different backgrounds, and at different stages of life.
What brings us together is being on a journey of discovering the love of Jesus Christ. That doesn’t mean that we’re more special or holy than anyone else – we are ordinary people who are exploring what it is to live in a world where an extraordinary, loving God is at work.
We believe that our God calls everyone to be a part of that journey. Whether you’re young, old, or somewhere in between. Whether you’ve gone to church every Sunday of your life, or you’ve never stepped inside one. Whether you think that life couldn’t get any better or you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom. You will find a warm welcome from us, and more importantly, the love of God.
Enjoy having a look around our website at some of what we have going on as part of our community, and we hope to see you soon.
Our faith
As Christians, we believe in a God who has created us, redeemed us, and who sustains us: in short, a God who loves us beyond anything we can truly comprehend, and who desires us to know Him and experience His love.
The Christian faith believes in one God who is three persons: a mystery called the Trinity. These three persons are called God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
God the Son was born among us as a human being, known as Jesus. Jesus lived in the land of Israel around 2,000 years ago, where he taught people about God’s love, cared for people, and opened to them a new way of being in relationship with our heavenly Father.
Jesus would eventually be arrested by those who feared His popularity, and crucified upon a cross, on a day we remember as Good Friday. In doing so, Christians believe that Jesus died to take away the sins of the world; that is, His death took away the lasting legacy of all that we do in this life which is unloving or wrong, and which we cannot undo ourselves.
Jesus then rose from the dead two days later (the ‘resurrection’) on what we call Easter Day. The part of the Bible called the New Testament is a collection of writings written by people soon after this event testifying that they believed that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead. In rising, Jesus broke the power of death, and opened the way for us to follow Him into everlasting life.
Having departed from his friends following the resurrection, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon them, to comfort, strengthen, and guide them in their life as Jesus’ followers.
We are the latest in the long line of followers of Jesus who have discovered his boundless love, mercy, and forgiveness – what Christians call ‘grace.’ Together, we make a family: brothers and sisters, united by Christ. And all are welcome to come and be a part of it.