St. Stephen’s, Norwich

St. Stephen’s, Norwich

St. Stephen’s church sits right next to a busy new shopping centre – Chapelfield and is well placed as a major pathway runs right past the church door. St. Stephen’s has glass doors so that passers by can see inside. There are some clear signs to welcome people in as the church runs a coffee shop serving drinks and simple meals. There is a visitors book in the entrance but this only showed 7 people for October. Many people do visit though.

The cafe has a guide price for it’s wares – you can pay this or whatever you can. The staff, all volunteers, are friendly and helpful and the food was excellent.

There is a book for sale – ‘A Church Reborn – the story of St. Stephen’s Church’ also a free guide ‘Welcome to St. Stepehn’s Church Norwich – A Visitor’s Guide.’ This tells some of the recent story of this church which has had some serious structural problems. The church has been well re ordered. One unusual feature is that the sanctuary area had been brought forward and toilets installed at the east end.

There is a good World War 1 display and a prayer request basket. I rate St. Stephen’s as good for this study and it shows how a nearby development can really transform the life of a church. The church’s vision is ‘Open doors, open hands, open hearts.’ They are certainly doing this. The website is at ststephensnorwich.org which gives clear visitor information as well as much else that happens at this busy church. St. Stephen’s is well worth a visit.