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The Open Community of St Michael (OCSM) is the New Name (2012) for the Order & Communion of St Michael Their Tag like "We ARE a people who believe the Supernatural IS Natural"

They are a community of Christian believers from many traditions, who are dedicated to a personal and powerful relationship with God. They work out of a community philosophy believing that we need to BE the Church of Christ within the World. As such they work at being a place of refuge and help to the communities we serve, always ministering the Love of the Father Heart of God.

OCSM welcome members from all walks of life and ministry levels and experience. We believe in the priesthood of all believers, and the five fold ministry as laid out in the New Testament.

The fivefold ministry mentioned in Ephesians 4:11, namely that of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, remains active and valid offices in the contemporary Christian church and as such are seen throughout our ministry.

Their style of worship and community is very diverse from the Anglo-Catholic expressions of the faith to a more charismatic and evangelical ones. They Quote on their website "It’s a joy to be a community that lives together, worships together and serves together no matter what our background". They hold fast to the core beliefs and statements that join them altogether as one community. All Ministry they do is focused on the fact that they simply wish to have a closer, deeper and more powerful relationship with God though a community of believers living life together in the unity of Christ and under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

The History of the Community (taken from the official website)

The Open Community of St Michael’s has grown from a small seed to a very large plant since 2001, but in recent months (2012) it had to be pruned right back so that its original vision and mission could be re-established. The root vision and aim was always to be a place of refuge and acceptance, to point people to the Cross and ultimately to a personal relationship with Christ. However this has been somewhat forgot over the years and worldly desires and influences have crept in and started to control the hearts and minds of the many leaders that have journeyed along the way.

What is today known as OCSM was originally birthed in 2001 as a small community church and fellowship called Our Fathers House which was based in a small community Centre in the town of Christchurch Dorset, It was led by a very young and ambitious leader and a leadership team who just wanted to see God’s Love shown forth in all areas of life.

They realized the importance of a personal relationship with God and how it could be integrated into a daily life of prayer and dedication. It was during this time that God really spoke to a number of the leadership team about the Fathers Love and the power of God to heal the hearts of those who felt orphaned by the faith and the church, due to their situation/troubles in life and faith. It was felt at the time that the church needed to make a commitment to prayer and meditation and this became the basis of the mission of the ministry.

In 2004 the community had to move out of its home and began to meet as 3 very successful home groups in their own right. A daily plan of prayer and dedication was drawn up by the leadership team and the “Order” of the day was drawn up and agreed on by the church. This was adapted as a way of life for people who were part of the ministry.

One of the home groups felt called to return to their traditional roots and based its meetings on the Anglican/Catholic tradition and in 2005 became known at The Community Church of St Michael and All Angels. It began to formulate plans to get more people involved from all over the UK and the group went from strength to strength

The other two groups became more evangelical in their outreach and continued to meet as home/cell groups across the south of England. They expanded their outreach and began to produce training and educational materials to reach the marginalized in society, with the gospel of Christ.

Over time the home/cell groups, church and internet ministry began to move in their own separate directions with a fractured vision. In 2007 however, a new “Rule of Life” was drawn up and the leadership made a commitment to joining all the aspects of the ministry into one fully integrated vision.

Following many further discussions over a period of weeks and months plans were formulated and made and The Contemplative Order of St Michael & All Angels was born and came into existence as a church in its own right. However after a difficult few years in 2011, the church in its original format and with the senior leadership team at the lead, felt that the life of the church as it existed was almost at an end. The vision of the church was not being met and the board seemed too indoctrinated and set in their ways to change things. After the appointment of a new leader and deputy leader in the summer of 2011 it was hoped that the church was to change.

Four months later the new leaders resigned as they could not work with the senior team, as they would not allow change to occur to bring the ministry into the new decade and keep it relevant to people of faith for the 21st century This was a difficult time for the church and the 3 original trustees of the church (who still maintained positions as trustees) who were there at its starting in 2001 stepped in and called for the church to be closed by acting upon an article within the churches’ bylaws. With a 62.9% majority vote of the “active” membership of the church in January 2012 and the church was closed.

However out of the ashes of sadness a phoenix was to rise! The three original trustees along with a new board of leaders (including two others who were part of the original set up team back in 2001) appointed a new leadership team to develop and work on a church vision and establish a new core which was called the Global Ministry Oversight Team.

Its task was to set to work on a new an exciting way forward. After appointing a new leader of the church and setting up the new legal documents of the church based on the original documents of 2001, in April 2012 after hundreds of hours work The Open Community of St Michael (Then Called the Order & Communion of St Michael) was birthed.

We have a long way to go but it is our heart felt calling and dream to see the ministry enter the next decade as a force for change and a place of safety, care, training and development and most of all as a community who’s heart is to see the Father heart of God preached and accepted in lives of its community. It’s our dream to see our people moving in the supernatural realities of God in the world today, preaching healing, and God’s love, the power of the Holy Spirit and acceptance to all.

So Who Are We Now....

We hope that you will consider journeying with us and become part of the revolution of God’s people in the world today not settling for anything less than a personal and powerful relationship with God. We Are The Open Community of St Michael, A Community that Believes The Supernatural IS Natural !