Torquay St Mary Upton

This Parish is registered with the Parish Giving Scheme which allows you to give to this Parish securely and safely online. Please click 'Regular Giving' to set up a monthly, quarterly, or annual Direct Debit or ‘One-Off Gift’ to make a single gift using your Debit, Credit Card or Apple/Google Pay wallet.

St Mags is a friendly church in the heart of Torquay that welcomes people from all walks of life.

We would love to welcome you either on Sunday or during the week.

On Sunday we meet at 9am and 11am.

The Living Room is a "not for profit" community café, open after the Sunday services as well as Wednesdays & Fridays.

The Play Room is a parent and baby/ toddler group that runs on Monday and Tuesday mornings from 10-12noon. £1 per family. Lots of fun, mess, good refreshments and people to make friends with.

More Detail.....

St. Mags is a medium-large, charismatic, open evangelical church in the heart of Torquay. Our doors are open to everyone and everyone walks in! We are committed to church being a community and space where we encounter God. St Mags is full of prayer, welcome, hospitality, discipleship, justice, and creativity. We are missional and bold in our witness and have seen Jesus transform many broken lives and we love to worship Him together in the Power of the Holy Spirit. 

St Mags offers two services on a Sunday. Our growing first service at 9am is a quiet and contemplative communion service. Our 11am is very informal, family focused and charismatic worship, featuring a contemporary style suitable for all ages. We are deeply committed to growing in the faith of Jesus Christ and loving one another - and pursue this passionately through teaching the Bible and ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are intentional in our language and our attitude - intentional about making worship truly accessible and participatory, especially to folks who don't speak 'church'. We offer family communion monthly and All Age services once a month. Worship is led a worship band and we draw on other styles where it's helpful. The key characteristic of all our worship is worshipping with integrity and joy. As mentioned above, we have groups running on most Sundays for Children and Youth.

What goes on in St. Mags?

The Living Room is a not for profit community cafe, open on Wednesdays and Fridays at lunchtime. The Living Room began as a vision built on the idea of open doors. God asked us to open the doors. And so we did. And people come. There are some who have amazing stories to tell - of recovery, of healing, of conversion. And others are still struggling. The 100 or so folks that come through twice a week may not always be able to tell you how God is working in their lives. But St Mags folks are just getting on with the mission and work that Jesus has left for them. This mission, put simply, is to love others as God loves us and to see Him transforming people's lives. It is central to setting the DNA of a church that welcomes all.

The Playroom runs each Monday and Tuesday, from 10-12noon. It is a hugely popular stay and play group for babies/ toddlers and their parents/ carers. It is run by a few key leaders and a team of volunteers. Each week we have over 50-80 children through the doors for play, quality refreshments, song time and craft. We are planning to introduce Bible stories and related activities over the coming year. It is starting to bear kingdom fruit as relationships are built, prayer is asked for and people start to come to St. Mags. There is potential for daytime Alpha linked to playroom.

There are Life groups that meet in homes and church throughout the week. We run Alpha or Access discipleship groups throughout the year. We have a pastoral action group, meal trains for those in need. A building's Action group co-ordinates the maintenance of church. Intercessors meet weekly to pray for the church and community. A women's ministry has recently started and is running conferences and social events. We act as a host for CCN, Torquay's branch of the Christian Creative Network, encouraging creativity, worship and mission through the arts. Finally the "inspire Project" is leading the large scale repairs of the church building, with a dedicated team of fundraisers and people raising the profile of the heritage of the church as still another way to bring people into the building and into the community of St Mags. A series of community, dramatic, musical and schools based and online events are planned.

Our experience is that time and time again, as people enter the building, whether Christian or not, they sense love, welcome, peace. They sense the presence of God. It's so exciting!

The parish of Torquay: St Mary Magdalene (Upton) is committed to the safeguarding of children, young people and adults. We follow the House of Bishops guidance and policies and have our own Parish Safeguarding Officer(s), PSOs. The Diocese of Exeter's safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contacts for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor (DSA) who advise our PSOs. If you are concerned that a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact the DSA. If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority Children or Adults Services.