Worship at St Andrew’s
We are a traditional fellowship but not at all stuck-in-the-mud and we are willing to try new things. We believe that God feeds his people through the Bible, the sacraments, prayer and through one another in fellowship and we aim to be an open and caring Christ-centred community.
Within a traditional framework, based on the Eucharist, we offer a variety of worship opportunities. Come and join us!
Sundays:
Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer) at 8am
Holy Communion (Common Worship) at 10am.
All Age Family Service (without Communion) at 10 on the 1st Sunday of the month.
Evensong at 6.30pm on the second & fourth Sundays. 5pm on the third Sunday of the month.
Fifth Sunday evenings at 6.30pm. Varied services throughout the year.
Atrium Informal Cafe style church at 6.30pm on the third Sunday in the Parish Centre.
Illumin8 Children’s Club at 10am on the second Sunday of the month during the main service in the Parish Centre.
Tuesdays:
7:30pm Holy Communion
Thursdays:
10am Holy Communion
(If you are Gluten Intolerant and can’t take normal Communion wafers, please pick up a card. They are in a basket as you enter the east door and a sidesperson will happily show you where they are. Take it with you to communion and hand it to the celebrant who will obtain a gluten free wafer for you.)
Holy Communion
This service is thought of as our ‘flagship’ and most of our liturgical resources go into making it as lively, relevant and interesting as possible. A number of lay people take part and the service caters for children as well as adults. Illumin8 (the children's club) meet in the Parish Centre on the second Sunday of the month at 10am during the service.
The service begins with the singing of a hymn of praise and a procession into church by our robed Choir. Some parts of the service are sung, led by the Choir, and we use two different settings that the congregation can easily follow.
There is always a sermon, based on the readings for the day, and the preacher may be one of the lay team as well as the Vicar. Sermons may be given in a visual format, using Powerpoint projection. For example, we have had talks given by members of the congregation who lived in India for three months and have seen photographs of how they lived amongst local people. We have had talks about the conditions under which Palestinian people live with startling photographs. We are open to trying to bring the outside world into this service so that we can better understand the world and engage with it in faith.
After the sermon, we have prayers led by members of the congregation and these will include prayers for the sick and those who have recently died.
At the invitation to receive Holy Communion many will come to the front, but some will receive a blessing rather than bread and wine. The Choir will sing, either using an Anthem or a special piece of music, and sometimes we have instrumental music. The music and hymns are a mix of traditional and contemporary and the hymnal we use is ‘Hymns Old And New’.
After the notices (in which there might well be the giving of a gift to some member of the congregation with a significant birthday and the singing of ‘Happy Birthday to You’) there will be a feedback time from the children. It is one of our greatest joys to see the children and also to see more and more adults volunteering to teach them about the christian faith.
After the final hymn, some of the congregation make their way into the Hall for coffee. On every 3rd Sunday of the month, there is a great Traidcraft Stall where goods from around the world are sold.
1662 Book of Common Prayer
It is one of the most stilling experiences of the week, attended by no more than two dozen people, who come to sit in the silence, a little while before 8 a.m., to recollect their thoughts and to sit before God’s presence. It begins with the entrance of the priest, who wears vestments appropriate to the season. There is no music or hymns and the language refers to God as ‘Thee’. When bread and wine are given to the communicant each one is referred to as ‘thee’.
Much of the imagery comes from a time when God was thought of as a king and a prayer is said at the beginning for the sovereign (Elizabeth II currently).
There is always an address or sermon which is usually an ‘unpacking’ of the ideas in the New Testament and based on the readings for the day. The prayers follow a set pattern introduced by the words ‘Let us pray for the whole state of Christ’s Church militant here in earth.’
The service ends with one of the greatest pieces of devotional literature that Cranmer ever wrote, The Gloria, and the congregation say this with the priest. In Advent and Lent The Gloria is not said by tradition, so that when we reach either Christmas Day or Easter Day it is all the more wonderful to say it again.
The service takes little more than 40 minutes and people may talk to one another and the priest briefly, however there is no coffee afterwards.
Family Service
This is organised by our Family Service Planning Group and is far less formal in style and is structured around 4 songs or hymns. The heart of the service is the talk which is always interactive, with the children taking part. We are joined by the 1st Shottery Brownies and the atmosphere is light and joyful. The service lasts about 45 minutes and normlly is without Eucharist except for festival times e.g. Harvest, Easter Day or Pentecost. Again, we conclude with coffee and fellowship in the Hall.
This is a lively, informal, all-age service for the whole Church family and it is great to see adults and children enjoying worship, helping to lead it and learning together about faith in Jesus Christ.
There is also an annual Family Christingle service in December.
The Family Service Planning Group organises each service, with the aim being to provide worship that engages all ages and which is upward and outward looking.
Evensong
This service consists of The Psalm, Nunc Dimittis and Magnificat, Versicles and Responses are all sung. There is always a sermon and prayers led by the Leader of the Service.
