The Communities of the Lee Abbey Movement

The Communities of the Lee Abbey Movement which includes Lee Abbey Fellowship in Devon, Lee Abbey International Students’ Club in London and the Lee Abbey Small Missional Communities currently in Knowle West in Bristol and Ford in Plymouth.

Following the initial purchase of land on 1 June 1945, from its earliest beginnings in Devon in 1946, Lee Abbey was a movement of God for evangelism and renewal, with a significant emphasis on resourcing and equipping the church and its people. Our vision remains to ‘Communicate Christ through Relationships’ through each part of the Lee Abbey Movement, reaching out to offer God’s welcome not just in Devon, but in London too through the Lee Abbey International Students Club (LAISC). This was founded in 1964 to offer suitable accommodation in a friendly atmosphere for students coming to London from all over the world. We also reach out in mission through the Lee Abbey Small Missional Communities (SMCs) currently in Knowle West in Bristol (1992) and Ford in Plymouth (2020).

The communities of Lee Abbey, each of which live under a rule and pattern of life detailed in our Community Handbooks, have particular and specific vocations in the service of the Gospel. As detailed in the constitution, in addition to the formation and development of the communities and their members, our vocation includes the mission to train, organise and equip members of the clergy, missionaries, preachers, ministers, teachers, students, lecturers and other persons committed to carrying out the objects of the Lee Abbey Charities; to organise retreats, conferences, lectures, classes and meetings of any description, holiday camps, accommodation hostels and other similar gatherings and: to print, publish, produce and distribute books, tracts, pamphlets, other writings, audio and video tapes, CDs and any other electronic means of communication.

Situated on the spectacular North Devon Coast, in the heart of the vibrant yet often challenging city of London and in Small Missional Communities around the country, Lee Abbey is a place where individuals, groups, students, visitors and all that we reach out to welcome, whether at the centre or the margins of society, can encounter Jesus Christ so that lives, relationships, communities and our environment are transformed by the life of God, lived out in our communities. They are places where all people can retreat and find peace and reconciliation, places where they can be inspired, renewed, refreshed and equipped for ministry, for those in a foreign country, a place to find a safe haven and home, and to those in inner cities, a place where the communities and their members are with them and for them, living alongside them, whatever their circumstances and background.