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After a series of discussions with the Staff Team, the PCC and
others, we’re introducing some changes to our services
– both to the monthly service pattern, and to some elements
within the services themselves. As it happens, November and
December both include a number of unusual seasonal services, so the
new pattern won’t really begin to settle down until the new
year, but one or two changes will emerge before then.
As far the new monthly service pattern goes, the main changes
are these:
- Firstly, the 4.00pm Evensong and Communion will become a 6.30pm
Choral Evensong again. The reasons for this include the following:
- Standard Anglican liturgical practice is to keep them as
separate services, rather than combine them, and I think there are
good reasons for that. We hope to make Choral Evensong a real
feature of our monthly worship.
- I think it’s helpful for the church and the wider
community if we regularise our service times (to 8.30am, 10.15am
and 6.30pm)
- having five services on one day (including baptisms) can create
certain practical difficulties.
- Choral Evensong will normally be on the 1st Sunday evening of
the month, with Communion on the 2nd Sunday evening.
- this will help to provide a balance between Communion and
non-Communion services, since our All-age Service is on the 2nd
Sunday.
- The 3rd and 4th Sundays will remain largely the same, although
the regular evening service on the 4th Sunday will be Holy Communion and
Healing, which many people are increasingly discovering to be of
real benefit.
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We’re also hoping to develop the 10.15am services in some
specific ways, in order to enhance a sense of church family
togetherness, to make it easier for newcomers to engage with
worship, and to develop further our excellent music provision,
traditional and contemporary:
- as a rule, the children will be with us in church for the start
of our main morning service, before going to their own groups in
the rooms behind, and then rejoining us at the end.
- as well as organ and choir, we’ll use the piano (and
sometimes music group) for some newer songs that we sing (which by
their very nature are written to be played on the piano, and
sometimes other instruments). We hope to continue to build on the
lovely blend of traditional and contemporary music that we have
here.
- we’re intending also to re-do some of our service sheets,
including providing a new series of Communion services for the
different seasons of the Church calendar, as envisaged in Common
Worship, the Church of England’s current liturgical
provision.
- we will try to include baptisms in some morning services
(All-age Worship and Morning Prayer) more often. It’s lovely
for the church to be present when new members are welcomed in.
We hope very much that these things will continue to build up
our worship, and give us an ever deeper sense of togetherness as we
worship and serve God as his family here. We hope too that it will
help our church to grow, as we draw in new people. Inevitably,
it’s impossible to meet all our tastes and needs all the
time, but I do very much hope that we’ll all find lots to
stimulate our hearts and minds, to help us on our spiritual
journey, and to make new discoveries and new pathways to God.
You’ll find details of the services, as ever, elsewhere in
these pages. If you have any specific queries or comments, do
please have a chat with me at any time.
Thank you – Richard
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