About Us

We are a benefice of six rural, welcoming, active and inclusive churches who love God and care deeply for our local communities. Our church communities have different characters and spiritualities but we are committed to being a united benefice, in order to glorify God through our outreach and worship. Our communities describe us as "welcoming". All of our church communities cherish the word of God and love in-depth preaching, whilst some are lower or higher up the candle in terms of service style.  "We aren't [all] young but we rarely act our age!"

As part of the diocese of Salisbury, we are committed to 'Making Jesus Known' in our communities, through service, outreach, and worship. All of our churches are inclusive and strive to make everyone truly welcome.

What we Believe & How we Worship

Missional, Inclusive, Bible-Centred, Sacramental, Active, Eco-conscious, Family. We are a broad and generous church, where everyone can find a home. Find out more about the God we worship and what we value here.

Our Mission and Ministry

One in six and six in one! Read more about how we work as your local church, and how we're seeking to come together, whilst retaining our unique characteristics and congregations.

Rota of Services

Where and where to join us each week, and what style of service to expect when you do! 

Where are we?

Our beautiful benefice is situated above the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We fill the valley between Dorchester, Puddletown and Cerne Abbas and we share strong relationships (as well as congregants) with our neighbouring teams. 

We are surrounded by rolling hills and wonderful walks, whilst a world of picturesque coastal towns is within easy driving distance. Our demographic is mixed in economy, with the large majority classed as either 'Rural Reality' or 'Country Living' by MOSAIC (Experian). Dorset is approaching a slow growth into a more multicultural existence; our parishes have been growing larger and younger through several new developments, which have brought new life and some much needed diversity into our communities.

Across our benefice, we have 6 villages, 15 hamlets, 5 pubs, 3 Post Offices/shops, 2 cafés, 2 care homes (and a specialist dementia home, arriving soon), a hotel/restaurant, a psychiatric clinic, a doctors' surgery, an animal park, a nature reserve, 2 Sites of Special Scientific Interest and 6 churches.

Parish Statistics

Our total benefice population at the census (2021) was 5322, which is around 12% of the population of mid-Dorset. New developments are causing a rapid increase. By the next census, it is estimated that the 204 homes currently being built in Charminster will add around 500 parishioners.