Panic about coming to church...
What to expect!
We know - it's not easy visiting a new church for the first time, We’ve ALL done it!
Sometimes you feel like a non-member visiting a country club. Do I belong here? Am I really welcome? Will the people be unfriendly, or too friendly? Will I be conspicuous? Will it be easy to leave if I don't enjoy it? Will they ask me for money? Will my kids enjoy it? How should I dress? Am I welcome if I don't believe?
We want to make visiting any of our churches an enjoyable experience, easy, stress-free, relaxing. As we said everyone in the congregation has been in the same place as you, a first time visitor. We would like you to know what to expect, so here's a brief overview.
When you arrive at any of the churches you should find that parking is not too much of a problem. If you live in the village why not walk to church - there is nothing like a walk in the fresh air first thing in the morning!
What do I wear?
You'll notice that everyone is dressed comfortably, in anything from "smart casual" to jeans and trainers, some people come in their “Sunday Best” - after-all how often do we get a chance to “dress up” these days? However we want everyone to dress however they feel comfortable.
What do I do when I arrive?
Upon entering, there should be some friendly people (we call them "sidesmen") to say hello, answer and questions you have, and give you all the bits and bobs you need for the service - you'll be given a copy of "Pews News" which has the week's announcements and future events and often you will also get a copy of the service sheet and a hymn book! You can then take your place in a pew. Often if you are at St Peter’s there will be something to watch on the big screen. It’s an opportunity to relax before the service - many people use this time to pray and so a quite and calm atmosphere is kept.
What about the Kids?
If you have children (and your coming to St Peter’s on a Sunday morning), they can go to Sunday Club in The Gladys Bevan Hall. If your young ones are shy, they're welcome to attend the service with you, but most kids really enjoy Sunday School - you can even join in with them if you want!
How Long? What happens?
Well, every service is a bit different but the service usually begins with a Hymn, followed by a welcome. Then we move through the service - Listen to readings, sing hymns and someone will give a Sermon and they usually speak for about 15 minutes. They do their best to make the messages interesting, enjoyable, and relevant to daily life. The sermon will often be based on the Bible, and he will often include interesting quotes from contemporary people, songs, or movies. If they does their job right, you'll hear solid Christian theology in intelligent, understandable, relevant terms. And hopefully, you'll laugh at times and maybe feel a tug at your heart too. Later on during the service the collection baskets go round. As a parish we have to be self supporting as we don’t get any money from anywhere else, so the members of the congregation give as much as they can. But you’ll be a visitor so we don’t expect you to give us anything but if you want to it’s up to you how much.
After that we take communion (also known as the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper). Communion is a Christian celebration of the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If you're a committed Christian, you're welcome to share in communion with us, and if not, you can just sit back and enjoy the music, or you can come forward to receive a blessing from Fr Timothy.
Fr Timothy closes the morning service in just over an hour after it began (and believe it or not, the time will fly). It all depends on how much time Fr Timothy spends talking to Sunday Club or Giving out the notices.
After the Service
After the service, we hope you'll stay around, meet some people. We hope that you will stay for refreshments at the back of church at St Nicholas’ or St Botolphs. If your at St Peter’s you can come down to The Gladys Bevan Hall for some gorgeous fresh filter coffee and scummy biscuits.
Church is about God and worship, but it's also about community and compassion, so we hope people really experience warmth and friendliness when they come to our churches.
That's about it. People constantly tell us that they really felt comfortable - "at home" are the words we hear most frequently. We hope you'll stop by this Sunday. And if you do, please do find Fr Tim and tell him that you found out about The Parish on the Internet.
Thank you for your interest.
