Inclusive Church: Sacred Trinity, Salford

These days I only ever attend churches which are inclusive. As a trans woman, there is simply no point me turning up at churches with narrow views on gender and sexuality. So when I knew I would be Manchester on a Sunday, for the first time, I went on the Inclusive Church website and searched for local churches listed in their directory. Churches have to apply to be included and meet some minimum criteria.

Unfortunately the process does generate some false positives. I have personal experience of churches in the diocese of Guildford which are inclusive in name but not in practice. In one, the priest had no problem with me being trans but advised me not to turn up at services in female mode. In another, just after I had completed the diocesan training to become a local service leader, the priest told me that presenting as trans was not consistent with leading services. 

The Inclusive Church directory lists eight inclusive churches in central Manchester or reasonably close to the centre. I visited the websites for all of these. In the end I decided that the most interesting was Sacred Trinity, Salford. Also, its morning service was at 11.15am and this fitted in well with my other commitments on the day.

Sacred Trinity describes itself as traditional Anglican, but also relaxed and friendly. I’m not sure I know what ‘traditional’ means here. The church has a Director of Music who plays organ and piano, but no choir. And the Sunday morning service is a Common Worship eucharist – the BCP does not feature here. I inferred that the church was neither evangelical nor Anglo-Catholic. If it was, the website would have made it clear.

Sacred Trinity also describes itself as ‘welcoming, inclusive, creative.’ I wasn’t able to test the ‘creative’ aspect, but the other two both apply. I turned up as Violet and no one gave me a strange look. They did seem quite friendly. During the Sharing of the Peace, it seemed like everyone shook hands with everyone else, and with a congregation of about 30–40 people including a baptism party, that took quite some time. I had the impression that this was a happy church.

At the end, the woman sitting next to me introduced herself as Frankie. We had a nice short chat in which she complimented my pearls and I complimented her necklace with its cross (which she said her mother had given her). 

After the service, I stayed on for coffee and had conversations with both the clergy. The vicar is Rev Andy Salmon and the curate is Rev Iona Christie. Both of them were welcoming.

Andy Salmon is enthusiastic about what the church can offer. Salford has an Open Day in September with many street activities. He said the church would be out there and highly visible. He is on General Synod and knows some of the Guildford team. He spoke highly of both the lately-deceased bishop, Andrew Walker, and his chaplain, Jo Wynn-Smith.

I was very impressed with Iona Christie as well. During the service, she preached on Romans 12:1-8 with its theme of the church as one body with many members, and spoke fluently and without notes. Newly-ordained at the age of 50, this is her first curacy. In fact she has only been at the church for two months. We formed an immediate bond when we discovered that we were both City supporters. She has a season ticket for the Women’s team and goes to home matches with her daughter. I also liked her hair, which is a pale shade of purple, and we had a nice conversation about that.

Iona told me straight away that she suffers from face blindness (the technical term is prosopagnosia). She does not recognise people’s faces so must find other ways of remembering them. She is autistic and this is its most obvious sign in her case (the condition is much more prevalent in people with autism than the general population). She has found that it is best to be upfront with people the first time she meets them, to avoid giving the wrong impression later. 

Iona is close to her two children, and had to raise them from an early age as a single parent. This is perhaps the most impressive thing of all.

One thing I mentioned to both clergy is the surprising lack of any reference to the Inclusive Church network on their website. It does not display the standard Inclusive Church vision statement about not discriminating against anyone on any ground. This is one of the first points made in the partnership agreement between Inclusive Church and the individual churches which are members. And I think I have seen that identification on the website of all the other inclusive churches I have attended. Neither Andy nor Iona were aware of this recommendation and it seems to be a simple oversight. I am sure they will rectify that.

The church certainly is inclusive in practice. Next Sunday’s evening service is cancelled because they are supporting the Pride Eucharist at Manchester Cathedral to mark Manchester’s annual Pride Weekend. Also, their monthly Sunday evening service pattern includes hosting an Open Table service for the queer community (a monthly inclusive service is another Inclusive Church recommendation).

Their other evening services include a quiet Taizé service, a bible study service, and something more casual with words and music which they describe as more of a gig than a service. And on Wednesday evenings they offer something called Silence in the City, which includes 20 minutes of silent prayer.

I definitely made the right decision in attending this church rather than any other Manchester church today. I am looking at the City fixture list to plan another trip north.