About Us

As a church we have a vision to be a light on the hill for our estate and as a living and vibrant centre of the Mackworth once again. We work this out in 3 ways: worshipping God, growing community and serving our estate.

The church began in a wooden hut on Brackensdale Avenue on the 4th of October 1953. It adopted St. Francis of Assisi as it’s patron and a few years later a new church was built on the Estate by the Diocese of Derby. In 1966 a new families centre was built on the side of the church. This has an incredible history of being the centrepiece of the estate’s life. However in more recent years the church was now made up of just a small group of faithful people.

In September 2017, the Rt. Rev. Alastair Redfearn Bishop of Derby, invited a team from Holy Trinity Brompton in London, to open the derelict church of St. Werburgh's in Friar Gate, to once again establish a living Christian community in the heart of Derby. The Rev. Andy Bond, together with his wife Rachel and their two children moved from Holy Trinity SE20, to be part of St Werburgh's, knowing that they in turn would be looking to lead a church plant in the future. In 2020 the diocese of Derby invited Andy and Rachel together with their young family to pioneer a new work at St. Francis Mackworth.

Since July 2020 both our traditional service and modern service have been growing with many people who are new to church.