Communion takes place on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. It is a traditional service, with a mix of modern songs and hymns. It is family friendly and we have both a creche room and Sunday School on most weeks. On a 5th Sunday we have an all age communion without Sunday School. All are welcome to receive communion if that is your tradition.
Morning Worship takes place on the 3rd Sunday each month and is similar to communion in style, but without the actual communion part of the service.
What to expect at Holy Communion or Morning Worship
Both services start at 10am, and most people arrive between 9.45 and 10am.
You will enter the church by walking down the slope and using the double doors in the back corner of the building, facing the road. Once inside, there will be someone there to greet you and hand you one of our church newsletters. The church is set out with rows of chairs, facing the front. You are welcome to sit wherever you like. There is a small table with some colouring and activities on, for young children, which you can use if you wish. There are toilets in the adjoining hall, and a disabled accessible toilet just through a set of glass doors. A church member will show you where they are, if you ask.
The service starts with a song, and you can sing along if you wish to. All the song words will be on the big screen at the front of church, along with anything else you need to know. The words in white are generally said by the minister leading the service, and the congregation join in with the words in yellow.
After the first song, the minister will welcome everyone, and “set the scene” by telling everyone what is the theme of the service. There will be Bible readings, a talk, prayers, and songs. During the songs, everyone will be invited to stand if they are able to, and the words will be on the screen for you to join in if you wish. There might also be an action song, where you can copy the actions from the screen, if you want to. The minister will announce everything. During most services, we have Sunday School for children. The minister will announce that it is time for the children to go to the hall with the Sunday School leader, if they want to. Children are welcome to stay in the church if they don’t want to attend, or parents can accompany their children to the hall. During Sunday School, the leader will do craft, games or other activities with the children, which fit around the theme for the day. The children stay in Sunday School until after the minister’s talk and the prayers, at which point they are brought back into the church, and can go to the front and tell the congregation what they have been doing. Some children prefer to go straight back to their parents.
When it is communion, a minister will prepare the bread and wine and then will invite everyone to come to the front and take communion if you are used to that, or come up for a blessing. A church helper will tell you when it is your turn to join the line in front of the minister. If you would like to take communion, you can hold your hands out to receive the bread and then move to the other minister to share the wine from the common cup. If you don’t want to share the common cup, you can indicate to the minister that you would like your wafer dipped in the wine, and they will do that for you. If you do not wish to receive communion, or you are not used to doing so, please do still come to the front and keep your hands by your sides, and the minister will pray a very short prayer of blessing for you. Children are also welcome to receive communion if they are used to doing so, or if not, they can have a blessing. You will then return to your seat, and there will be some music playing. You may sing along with the words on the screen if you wish.
The service might last between an hour, and an hour and a half. At the end of the service, the minister(s) will walk to the back of the church, and you can say goodbye and leave if you wish. We would, however, be really pleased to welcome you in the hall to share coffee with us. When you are ready, please use the glass double doors on the side wall of the church, to walk down the slope and into the hall. On the left at the end of the hall, is the kitchen hatch where you can collect a cup of tea, coffee or squash, and a biscuit. There is a pot where you can put some money, but many people don’t carry cash, and so we don’t expect that. There will be some tables and chairs set out, and you can sit wherever you like, and talk to the other people on your table. You can leave whenever you wish, either through the hall’s double doors, or go back up the slope into the church, and out of the doors where you came in.