How Church Services Work
If you have never been to a Church service before, it can seem a bit daunting, but hopefully this will give you a few ideas about what is going on.
Hopefully if you come to one of our services you will recieve a welcome from someone who migh give you a book. Let them know you are new and if you need some help of advice, someone should be able to help.
The great thing is that once you have had a go, wherever you go in any traditional Anglican church, you can be fairly sure that the pattern will be similar. And week by week the service will become more familiar.
First steps
You'll probably get a servce sheet with the words of th eprayers that we will say. Usually the words in bold are for everyone to join in with.
You'll also get a Hymn Book, that has the words for the songs we sing. If yo don't know the songs, dont worry. hopefully the tunes are easy to pick up and after a few goes, you'll be able to sing along.
Where to sit.
We sit in 'Pews' , long benches or rows of chairs. some people have favourite places to sit where they feel comfortable, but basically sit where you like. If you have never been, sit somewhere in the middle so you can see what other people are doing.
If you have choldren you might think you'd prefer to sit at the back, but actually the most interesting stuff happens at the front. So you are very welcome there. We do have a limited selectio of soft toys and books for children, but they can be part of the worship too and if they are old enough, the minister or church wardens might invite them to help out in various different ways.
The service will usually be led by the priest (Minister/Vicar/Rector) or someone else who's been trained to lead worship. They will guide everyone through the service, giving hymn numbers and reminding us of where we are in the service booklet.
Three types of service
We have 'Services of the Word' which are made up of hymns, prayers and learning from the bible. We might call these Family Service or Evening Worship.
And we have services which as well as the structure of a 'Service of the Word', will include a 'Holy Communion' - a rememberance of Jesus last meal (The Last Supper) with his friends shortly before he was crucified – at the end.
The third type of service are morning and evening versions of the 'Service of the Word' in traditional language. Called Matins (sometimes Mattins) and Evensong or Evening Prayer. These come from 'The Book of Common Prayer' and sound like Shakespeare. Not everyone's taste, but a lot of people are getting to really like them again.
Before we start:
There's usually some music and we keep a moment of quiet to think about what's on our minds, or get ourselves calm. (some people do chat a bit, but hopefully they will be quiet when the minister starts).
When we start:
The minister will ask everyone to stand. They'll welcome everyone , usually with a special greeting that's in the service book. And then we'll probably have a hymn.
After that we follow the order of the service as set out in the booklet. It has some instructions when to sit or stand, though the minister will usually also give directions.
Service Stucture
Its often helpful to think of the service to be like a journey where you are mentally making your way from the door to the high altar and back again.
You'll see some of that movement reflected in the headings that appear in the order of services: The Greeting, The sending out.
But other headings point to activities that happen to get us in the right frame of mind for different stages of the services.
So when we arrive we might come in with all sorts of things on our mind, be worried about who we are or things we have done. As we come through the door we are all equal before God. Our profession or status ceases to mean anything. All are welcome.
Next we want to lay down all the things we might have regretted, and anger or annoyance. When yo came in you probably ppassed the font which is usually near the door. That's where Christians are baptised, a washing ceremony that is all about having a fresh start. So we do that in our minds with a prayer of penitence. We say sorry. And the the minister reminds us that Jesus was all about forgiveness for anyone who was honestly sorry.
Then to get us in a single frame of mind we'll usually have a prayer to collect all our thoughts - it's even called the Collect prayer. And it often hints at a theme for the service.
The next stage of the service will be focussed on the bible. We have some short readings and then a short talk, usually about the readings. All of this happens from a space in the middle of the church.
The Creed: This part of the service is where regular members of the church will recite an ancient statement of beliefs that are at the heart of all Christian communities. There are a few different formats but they basically go back to a set of beliefs that were formulated in about 325AD. The Creed can be a bit confusing if you have never come across it before. We talk about believing in one God, and yet seem to be also talking about three different things - the Father, the Son and the Spirit. You might have heard about 'The Holy Trinity', we'll this is it. Bu it's not really three seperate things, but three experiences of the one true God that are alltogether, all at once, all the time. It a bit of a mind blowing idea, but its the best humans have come up with to help them explain the divine from a Christian perspective. But it's a tool rather than a rule and like all tools, it takes some good teaching and practice to learn how it works. And if you would like to have some teaching, the jus ask the minister at the end of the service. You are of course welcome to join in, but if you dont feel ready or able to say the words, then don't feel you have to say them. Nobody minds. Maybe just listen and think about that mind blowing idea.
A time for Prayer: After the creed we'll usually have some prayers where we collectively thing about the church, the world, it's leaders and things in the news, our families and friends, people who are sick and those who have died.
In some services, this is where we also say together the prayer that Jesus taught his followers - The Lord's Prayer. You can find that in every service booklet and online.
The Peace: Having got this far, it's a tradition that members of a church will demonstrate their fellowship by sharing a handshake or other sign of being at peace with their neighbours as Jesus taught us. So if some random stranger comes up to you and offers to shake hands, give it a shake and say "Peace be with you."
A Collection: Usually around this point in the service we will have a collection. The church is a charity and relies entirely on donations to keep open, pay its ministers, and keep the buidings in good repair. If you can afford to donate you will be invited to place a contribution of cash in a bowl that's passed around. You can also give online digitally using QR codes published around the church or using contactless machines where available. ANd if you've done that you can put a token in the collection instead.
HALF WAY? OR TIME TO GO?
If it's a 'Service of the Word' this is where the service will come to and and and we'll skip to the 'blessing' and the 'sending out' - usually given from the altar or chancel steps.
But if it's a Holy Communion Service (sometimes called, The Eucharist, or The Lord's Supper, or Mass) then the second half begins. Traditionally only those who had been 'baptised' and 'confirmed' would stay for this final part of the Communion service, but nowdays everyone stays.
The Holy Communion
This is the remeberance of a meal. It's based on the symbolic use of bread and wine to represent the body and blood of Jesus, and a reminder of his words of encouragement to his closest followers to remember him every time they had a meal together until he comes back.
So there is a table (the altar) which is laid with a white cloth and plate with bread (wafers) and a chalice (cup of wine).
A priest will say some special prayers of remembrance of not just the meal but what it came to represent - Jesus being killed on a cross - only to rise again.
When the prayers are over, the Priest will invite everyone to come up to the altar to receive some bread and wine or a blessing.
Not everyone want's to go up to the altar, but if you feel moved to do so, you will be welcome. If you have never been in church or had holy communion before, maybe just go for a blessing. Just kneel at the altar and keep you arms at your side. Tell the priest you just want a blessing and they will put a hnd lightly on your head and say a short prayer. And you can say 'Amen' which means 'I agree'.
But maybe you do feel that you would like to consume the symbolic bread and wine and feel like part of that meal and have a sense of Jesus within you, then kneel and hold out your hands and the priest will place a wafer in them and offer you a sip of wine from the chalice. They'll say 'The body/blood of Christ'. Again, you can say 'Amen' which means 'I agree'.
You return to your seat and you are invited to pray.
The Blessing and Sending out
The final act of a service wil be for the minister to ask God to bless everyone who has been at the service and all those not in the service that are part of our family and Christian community.
Then they will give a command for everyone to go back out into the world to live and work in the name of Jesus.
And with that everyone stands as the minister leaves, then often sits again ,once they have passed, by to say any private prayers for the week ahead. Then people will get up again to leave, or hand in theor books and make their way to any refreshments on offer.
Often th eminister will be near the door and very happy to greet you and for you to speak to them and ask questions.
We'd hope that you had felt upplifted and inspired by the experience and would like to come again. You would be very welcome.
Contact
The Vicarage
Great Hormead
Buntingford
Hertfordshire
SG9 0NT
01763 289258