	Praising God Together
	I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. Psalm 9:1 Many of us greatly value our 10.15am worship at Norbury, particularly the Communion service. We notice, however, that it does not seem to be attracting new people, particularly younger adults, as much as we would hope. I personally long to provide worship at Norbury that enables young and old to worship God with all our heart. The PCC has considered this matter in great detail over the past few meetings. We thought about having two acts of worship, one formal and the other more informal; but we have decided against this for various reasons. The main reasons are that it would create a lot of organisational problems, with the car park in particular, and that it is the wrong time to be making such a major change when we expect a new vicar within the next two years. (I shall be retiring in September, 2008.) It seems clear to me that if we are to make our worship more accessible to new people, we need to be more flexible within our existing structures. For example, we need to alter the content of the Communion service sometimes, whilst keeping what is essential. This will be the main topic for discussion at our Annual church meeting. We now call this the ANNUAL PARISH CHURCH MEETING - APCM rather than the AGM. New Church of England regulations require this name. This year the APCM will take place at the end of a shortened 10.15am Sunday Morning Worship on 22nd April. It will end at about 11.35am, the same time as our worship normally ends. The children will stay in their groups while the meeting is going on, so that parents who come with their children will have the chance to attend the meeting. We would like as many church members as possible to attend. I would like to make these points as we consider what changes it might be appropriate to make in our worship.	Our main reason for meeting for worship is to make sure that we put God first in our lives. When we worship God with all our heart we are less likely to worship false idols. For example, we are less likely to feel that making lots of money, or amassing possessions, or achieving fame for its own sake, or looking after only myself and my family are the most important things in life. We believe that if we put God first, then money, success and family and other relationships will find their proper places in our lives. Liturgy – using a given form of words - has an important place in worship. When, as a church, we agree to use a particular liturgy, then the church and the leaders are sharing control about the organisation of worship. I find that liturgies express Christian truths in a profound way, and that by regular use of the liturgy, these truths become more real to me. Well-written liturgies can stay with us all our lives and deepen our relationship with God. A vital part of our worship of God is sensitivity to the needs of other people—people we worship with regularly, people who come occasionally and people who are new to Norbury. Some new people say that they find it hard to relate to our liturgies, our more formal acts of worship. Therefore we need to use our liturgies with imagination. Many people who are interested in joining us for worship have very little background of churchgoing. We need to be imaginative and flexible in planning our worship if we are to attract new people, particularly younger adults. I want the kind of worship that enables us to put God first, but also helps us develop our fellowship in Jesus. I want worship that enables us to express our joy, our pain, our longings, our need for God, and that also enables new people to do that. I want worship that educates, that equips all church members for our special tasks within the body of Christ. I want worship that enables each person present to experience the unconditional love of God that is made known to us through the Spirit of our Lord Jesus. We look forward to having a constructive discussion about this at the Annual Parish Church Meeting on 22nd April. Martin Collins
	Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 6325

Praising God Together

I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. Psalm 9:1

Many of us greatly value our 10.15am worship at Norbury, particularly the Communion service. We notice, however, that it does not seem to be attracting new people, particularly younger adults, as much as we would hope.

I personally long to provide worship at Norbury that enables young and old to worship God with all our heart.

The PCC has considered this matter in great detail over the past few meetings. We thought about having two acts of worship, one formal and the other more informal; but we have decided against this for various reasons. The main reasons are that it would create a lot of organisational problems, with the car park in particular, and that it is the wrong time to be making such a major change when we expect a new vicar within the next two years. (I shall be retiring in September, 2008.)

It seems clear to me that if we are to make our worship more accessible to new people, we need to be more flexible within our existing structures. For example, we need to alter the content of the Communion service sometimes, whilst keeping what is essential.

This will be the main topic for discussion at our Annual church meeting. We now call this the ANNUAL PARISH CHURCH MEETING - APCM rather than the AGM. New Church of England regulations require this name.

This year the APCM will take place at the end of a shortened 10.15am Sunday Morning Worship on 22nd April. It will end at about 11.35am, the same time as our worship normally ends. The children will stay in their groups while the meeting is going on, so that parents who come with their children will have the chance to attend the meeting. We would like as many church members as possible to attend.

I would like to make these points as we consider what changes it might be appropriate to make in our worship.

Our main reason for meeting for worship is to make sure that we put God first in our lives. When we worship God with all our heart we are less likely to worship false idols. For example, we are less likely to feel that making lots of money, or amassing possessions, or achieving fame for its own sake, or looking after only myself and my family are the most important things in life. We believe that if we put God first, then money, success and family and other relationships will find their proper places in our lives.

Liturgy – using a given form of words - has an important place in worship. When, as a church, we agree to use a particular liturgy, then the church and the leaders are sharing control about the organisation of worship. I find that liturgies express Christian truths in a profound way, and that by regular use of the liturgy, these truths become more real to me. Well-written liturgies can stay with us all our lives and deepen our relationship with God.

A vital part of our worship of God is sensitivity to the needs of other people—people we worship with regularly, people who come occasionally and people who are new to Norbury.

Some new people say that they find it hard to relate to our liturgies, our more formal acts of worship. Therefore we need to use our liturgies with imagination. Many people who are interested in joining us for worship have very little background of churchgoing. We need to be imaginative and flexible in planning our worship if we are to attract new people, particularly younger adults.

I want the kind of worship that enables us to put God first, but also helps us develop our fellowship in Jesus. I want worship that enables us to express our joy, our pain, our longings, our need for God, and that also enables new people to do that.

I want worship that educates, that equips all church members for our special tasks within the body of Christ. I want worship that enables each person present to experience the unconditional love of God that is made known to us through the Spirit of our Lord Jesus.

We look forward to having a constructive discussion about this at the Annual Parish Church Meeting on 22nd April.

Martin Collins

Praising God Together

Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 6325