We are delighted that all the churches in our parish are Inclusive Churches.

We believe in inclusive Church - a church which celebrates and affirms every person and does not discriminate. We will continue to challenge the church where it continues to discriminate against people on grounds of disability, economic power, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, learning disability, mental health, neurodiversity, or sexuality. We believe in a Church which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ; which is scripturally faithful; which seeks to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation; and which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.

www.inclusive-church.org

You can read more about Inclusive Church on their website.

What does this mean in practice at ACNB?

• Everyone is welcome at ACNB

• We have larger print versions of our services sheets and hymn books available at St Mark’s and All Saints and a sound system with integrated T loop in three of our churches.

• We are, slowly, making improvements to the accessibility of our churches (including dealing with the age and traditional design of three of the buildings):

  • All Saints, which is our most modern building, is already accessible, with external automatic doors, level access and an accessibile toilet; the car park needs more work to improve accessibility and we are working on this.
  • St John’s has a new accessible path from the car park to the church.
  • St Mark’s is fundraising for extensive alterations including internal ramps and a wheelchair friendly access track to car parking areas.
  • For more detailed accessibility information about each building see:
    • All Saints
    • St Denys
    • St John
    • St Mark

• We have recently joined three parishes into one. As part of the evaluation process, we undertook an Equality Impact Assessment to research the impact on our communities. This resulted in a positive conclusion and was a valuable addition to the process.

• In January 2026, Jo Hooper, our Parish Safeguarding Officer, became an Autism Ambassador. As a result she will be considering any changes we can make to further encourage and welcome those who are neurodiverse.

Please feel free talk to any of our church staff if you have any thoughts about how we can improve our inclusivity, we are always keen to hear new ideas.