However the Church is not so much the building but the people who worship in it week-by-week. Our Church Electoral Roll numbers over 90,of whom 20-30% will be in Church on any given ordinary Sunday - many more at festivals. Most Church members live in Binsted and the surrounding hamlets such as Isington, South Hay, Wheatley, Blacknest, Frith End and Wyck which are all part of the Ecclesiastical (Church) Parish.

The Vicar since 1995 has been the Revd James Campbell, he is also the Rector of Bentley. He and his family live at the Vicarage next to the Church;the house was built in the 1960s on the site of an older vicarage. The Church of the Holy Cross has two Churchwardens and a parochial Church Council (PCC) which has 14 members.

There is a variety of regular Sunday worship from the Prayer Book, 'Common Worship' Communion Services to All-Age ('Family') services. There is a small children's Church that meets three times a month in the Wickham Institute next to the Church. A team of bell-ringers ring the six bells before Sunday morning services.

The mid-week life of the Church is important. People from Bentley and Binsted meet regularly on Tuesday mornings, Tuesday evenings and Wednesday evenings for study, fellowship and prayer. Various courses including Alpha courses have been run in the past few years.

Church members are involved in different aspects of community life and seek to live out their faith along side those who live in the parish. The Church was originally involved in setting up the Care Group (in Bentley, Binsted % Froyle) and the Parish Magazine is a village magazine run by the Church.

The Church building remains open during daylight hours. Visitors are very welcome. Field Marshall Montgomery, who lived at Isington until his death in 1976, is buried at the end of the Churchyard. His banner, which used to hang in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, now hangs at the back of the Church.

Anyone living in the parish can be married in the Church (unless they have been married before) and can be buried in the Churchyard.

James Campbell writes "at Binsted Church we seek to be a part of the community and to make people welcome at every opportunity; to provide a variety of opportunities for people to explore the Christian faith, to worship God within an Anglican context, to enable people to grow in faith and to demonstrate that the Christian faith can be relevant and bring meaning, purpose and hope into the life of every individual".

Special thanks to James Campbell for this contribution.