Our Mission
Originally founded in 1069 as a monastery under the Rule of St Benedict, Selby Abbey is a Christian Church that aims to offer everyone who comes through the doors a sense of God’s presence and love in the world, and welcome people of all faiths and none.
We are a Church of England Parish Church in the Diocese of York with a regular pattern of services of worship on Sundays and during the week and seasonal services throughout the year to which all are welcome, and also baptisms, weddings and funerals, offered especially to those who live in our parish or who have an association with the Abbey.
We aim to serve the wider community of Selby and Yorkshire, nationally and internationally, by offering welcome and hospitality to individuals, groups and events that would like to visit, use and enjoy the Abbey for a wide range of cultural, recreational and spiritual purposes.
Our Belief
The Christian faith flows out of and is based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Christians seek to follow the way that Jesus taught, in fellowship with other Christians as part of the Church, and to live a faith which can change the world.
We believe that God is love and seeks a relationship of love with every person and with the whole creation. We also believe that God has revealed himself to the world in a special way in Jesus of Nazareth who was born in Bethlehem, who lived a life of loving service to others, who died on a cross for us and who rose again on the first Easter Day. Through baptism all Christians share in his resurrection life. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection holds the key to knowing and loving God, and to making sense of life, before and after death.
Christians also believe that God is alive, loving and active today through the work of his Holy Spirit in our lives: inspiring faith, empowering God’s people to work for justice and truth and sustaining the life of the world, giving spiritual gifts to the Church to bring about changed lives and a transformed society.
We celebrate our faith daily in acts of worship to which all are welcome.
You can find out more about the Christian faith, prayer and the life of the church by visiting the Church of England website: https://www.churchofengland.org/our-faith/what-we-believe
Our Vision
Where do we want to be?
- A worshipping community that is full of joy and enthusiasm and has grown in numbers, unity and diversity within and across the different congregations
- A worshipping community that includes a greater number and proportion of younger and middle-aged people and of families.
- A worshipping community where people have grown, and are growing, in their relationships with God and with each other; where we ‘live by the gospel and share it with others’
- A worshipping community that is more engaged with individuals and organisations and businesses in the wider community
- An Abbey (and associated buildings and space) that are well looked after, well ordered and well used by both the worshipping and the wider community
- A Church that has become financially sustainable in its life and mission