church of england Archives - Page 4 of 11

Safe Haven

Waltham Abbey is the venue for Safe Haven, a spiritual home for people who live with mental illness.

Revd Di Crook, curate at Waltham Abbey, is herself a trained counsellor. Before ordination she worked with people with mental illness for many years. Safe Haven is one of a number of activities supported by the West Essex Mind and Spirit Cluster Group. The cluster group aims to provide resources and support in the area of mental health and Safe Haven has become an important part of that.

Safe Haven is for anyone of any faith or none. It has tried to meet in a non-religious building but people prefer being at Waltham Abbey which has 'a spiritual feel'.

Meetings are simple. To begin, a meditation is read. This is followed by quiet. People indicate they are ready for communication by placing a lit candle in the middle of the group. When everyone is ready, people can share their thoughts.

Writing about Safe Haven, one member of the group made this comment:

I am sure most of us who came along as facilitators or members never expected that we would receive ourselves, far more than we were able to give. Boundaries and barriers have slipped away as we take up the opportunity for personal reflection in the presence of God and then the privilege of sharing in sometimes very intimate and personal moments as all seek to express their feelings and needs.

Not all present would recognise or even understand the movement of the Holy Spirit, but that presence is always there, encouraging, lifting up, comforting, healing and empowering.

4All

Sally Gaze describes the Alpha course she ran with seven young mums from four villages in her Norfolk benefice as

the easiest ever.

They were all very alike and gelled very quickly,

she says. The women were drawn from local mother and toddler groups and were not previously churchgoers. The Alpha course developed into a daytime cell church, one of several forming part of the ‘mixed economy’ of the Tas Valley benefice, of which Sally is team rector.

In this group we had shared and prayed… we had struggled to engage with the Bible over the noise of ten toddlers and we had changed and grown,

Sally says.

They had also begun to think about mission. Three of the women, each from different villages, had the idea of putting on something for toddlers at church, specifically a music group. As their Alpha course helped them to bond and grow into a church relationship with one another, these three formed a team to organise a children’s service supported by their fellow cell members.

With Sally they visited a neighbouring benefice’s children’s service,

and got the bug of it,

Sally says. A monthly service for toddlers, 4All, is held at 4 o’clock on Sundays including around 40 minutes of ‘lively, child-focused worship’, followed by high tea for the children and tea and cake for the adults.

Young women with a life stage in common discovered church together, then went on to share their new life of faith with others

Initially, 4All was planned by Sally with input from the women. These roles have now been reversed, with the women planning and Sally helping out.

Very importantly, they invite people,

Sally says.

They deliver 30 invitations personally and look after the refreshments.

They also pray for those who attend, many of whom were not previously churchgoers.

4All is a bridge. It has done a lot to help build community in the village.

Two years after studying the Bible together and growing in discipleship, the cell has undertaken the Alpha course again, this time running it for a new set of participants.

Young women with a life stage in common discovered church together, then went on to share their new life of faith with others.

New Creations

A Church of England reader and bereavement coordinator in Merseyside, Janet Cross, became aware of the need for some kind of support group for the bereaved.

She had the idea of a craft session as 'occupational therapy' and opened it up to anyone who wanted to come. Around ten churchgoers took advantage of the group, New Creations, which began in 1998, always opening with a prayer.

At first they focused on general crafts but soon gravitated towards making cards. A monthly 'God slot' centred on the theme of the cards being created that week – for example, 'leaves' and the idea of falling.

Through Janet's invitations to those she met in the course of her lay ministry in the parish, and through members telling their friends about it, the group grew. Now around 50 people are registered at New Creations, with up to 35 attending at any one time.

New Creations meets on Tuesdays. Since summer 2006, the sessions have started with two 'clusters' and thus become part of the cell format used by Janet's church.

The clusters are led by one woman each, with Janet mentoring and assisting. Both clusters meet at 11am in the church building, one made up of twelve previously unchurched people and the other of seven churchgoers.

'The people who weren't going to church would come to me with prayer requests, so I could see they were warming'

Just over an hour later they join for lunch in the restaurant attached to their church, after which the card making session begins.

Janet describes the 'unchurched' cluster as

a support group

in which members are beginning to open up to each other.

The people who weren't going to church would come to me with prayer requests, so I could see they were warming,

she says. A monthly cluster was offered at first, but this developed quickly into a weekly meeting in response to the enthusiasm of members.

We're looking for a vision to develop more,

Janet adds. A breaking of bread just before Christmas 2006

went down beautifully

and members have begun to pray out loud together.

Janet cites one lady who has openly expressed a sense that she now considers New Creations to be her church.

She is also considering an away day combining a morning of meditation and an afternoon of card making.

New people are coming each week,

Janet says.

If we carry on like this we'll need another cluster.

Sunningdale sheltered housing

Sunningdale is a community of 108 self-contained, warden-assisted flats all occupied by elderly people. Lesley Bailey, a lay-reader at Christchurch, with four others began church services here eighteen months ago.

Lesley says she is well known now among the residents. Some will join in for the end of worship cup of tea even though they don’t attend the rest of the worship. Others will ask for prayer.

There is much to give thanks for at this stage:

over ten percent of the community are already in the congregation;

members are fully involved in the worship;

the entire community being personally invited to each service.

Some members of the congregation are able to lead prayers and others feel comfortable reading the Bible. They may not have done this in a larger church.

Several have rediscovered their faith since services began at Sunningdale. One struggled for several months to overcome her agoraphobia so she could attend the services that are held in the residents' lounge. Now she reads the lesson with enthusiasm and commitment.

Lesley is very excited about how the church is developing. She hopes the next step will be a more in-depth study of the Bible for those who are interested.

St Thomas the Apostle, Groombridge

St Thomas the Apostle, Groombridge – an Anglican church on the Sussex/Kent border – would describe itself as 'a Eucharistic parish', says minister Tony Fiddian-Green.

Communion services take place twice every Sunday. Four or five times a year a 'café Eucharist' replaces the main morning service, and Tony is also involved in a Eucharist with the church school.

Tony prepares the children for this termly event with three preceding classes, during which they trace the practice of Eucharistic fellowship back to the Exodus, through to the Upper Room in Acts and on to the parish.

Every time we do it we recapture the stories, and they do remember,

he says of the children.

At each service the children are involved with the prayers, readings, candles, banners, drama and music and the offertory, which includes a basket of cracker biscuits or matzo bread, chosen because of the biblical references to 'thin' bread.

'We have a celebration of the Lord's resurrection every time we practice the Eucharist. We get together, remember Jesus, and break bread.'

However, not all the school children are confirmed.

Having a school Eucharist would be bewildering for pupils who learn about it and then can't receive,

Tony says. So while those are who are confirmed receive, children who are not leave with the gift of a portion of blessed bread and a carton of juice.

This is an idea inspired by the Orthodox tradition where believers receive communion rarely, and after much personal preparation, but may leave a service with blessed bread on ordinary occasions.

Then there is the Café Eucharist to which the normal congregation is encouraged to invite their neighbours.

It's a fellowship breakfast really, with the breaking of bread in the middle,

explains Tony.

Non-churchgoers come to these services, held in the church hall, as well as the usual congregation of up to 100, which means that as many as 130 people can be present.

Tables for eight are laid with cloths and flowers for a simple breakfast of croissants and rolls. The service includes a two or three minute talk and the consecration of the elements with the words of institution. The bread and wine are passed round the tables from person to person.

Those who come often say they didn't know church could be like this,

Tony says.

We have a celebration of the Lord's resurrection every time we practice the Eucharist. We get together, remember Jesus, and break bread.

Come and Go

Robert Harrison, vicar of St John's Hillingdon, and teams of people from the church have spent over a year planning for an innovative way of doing Sunday mornings. Here he answers questions local people might ask about how it works.

What is 'Come & Go' worship?

It is exactly what it says: come when you can and go when you like. Our worship starts at 8am and continues all the way through to lunch at 12.30pm. You can arrive at any time in between, and leave whenever you wish.

Will I interrupt people if I arrive at the wrong time?

No. If you arrive in a quiet bit, it would help if you come in quietly, of course. But we are quite used to people arriving and leaving all through the morning.

Will people think I'm rude if I go half way through something?

Again, if you leave at a quiet moment, no-one will mind if you leave quietly. There is a planned opportunity to leave every half hour (at the end of each section), but you are welcome to leave at any stage.

Is there a minimum amount of time I will be expected to stay?

It is quite common for people to worship for one half hour section and then leave. But if you can only stay for five minutes, we will be pleased that you joined our worship, and believe God will too.

Occasionally, people stay for the full five hours. Those who have, have enjoyed the experience.

If I stay for a long time, will the worship start repeating itself?

Every half hour has a different style and approach. Each Sunday, a single theme runs through the morning's worship, but each section explores that theme in a different way.

You will get to look at the same aspect of Christian life and faith from many different perspectives.

I am used to worshipping in other Church of England churches. Will I get the kind of 'service' I am used to?

If you come from 8.00am to 9.00am, you will worship in a traditional, 'Book of Common Prayer – 1662' format.

If you come from 10.00am to 11.00am, you will find the worship similar to other services based on 'Common Worship – 2000'.

The worship from 11.30am to 12.30pm is contemporary, relaxed and interactive, while keeping within the guidelines of the Church of England.

Will I get a whole service every half hour?

That depends on what you mean by a 'whole service'. You will get a complete act of worship, but you will not get all of the ingredients that are commonly found in a Church of England service. The Come & Go program is designed so that you will get a fairly well-balanced spiritual diet if you stay for about one and half hours.

What style of worship will I find at St John's?

We do not believe that there is a 'right' way of worshipping God. (Jacob heaped up a pile of stones and poured oil on them; Moses roasted a sheep and ate it with his family and neighbours. King David wrote spiritual songs, and sacrificed bulls on a neighbour's farm; King Solomon did the same in a magnificent Temple. Jesus read the scriptures and discussed their meaning in a purpose-built synagogue; St Peter gathered Christians for regular communal meals in people's homes, and St Paul encouraged them to sing together and tell one another about God).

We purposefully offer a wide variety of worship styles so you can worship God in a way that suits your needs.

As a general rule, our Sundays begin with formal and traditional worship. As the morning progresses the style and content gradually become more informal and contemporary.

Are breakfast, coffee and lunch part of the worship, or gaps in the worship?

They are very much part of the worship. The very first worship gatherings of the Christian church took place over communal meals (not least of these were Jesus' Last Supper and his first meetings with his disciples after the Resurrection).

At St John's we have a strong emphasis on being a community of Christians. There are few things better for a community than eating together.

Do I have to pay?

In every half hour section there is an opportunity to make a financial offering. Making a significant offering from our income has been a vital part of Christian and Jewish worship all the way back to Abraham.

In the meal-centred sections, you will be invited to make a contribution towards your food. Any surplus money, after the costs have been met, will go into the general offering.

As St John's is a charity, we can claim tax back from the government if tax payers fill in a very simple form to register their gift.

Where did the Come & Go idea come from?

We live in an age of extended shop opening, flexible working hours and 24/7 entertainment. There are only a few things in our lives that require us to arrive at a particular time and stay until it is finished, unless we have booked in advance.

We want to make it possible for as many people as possible who want to worship God, to do so.

Does Come & Go worship make a lot of extra work for the church leaders?

No. Because each half hour section is self-contained, it has been possible to include a wider spectrum of church members in leading our worship. As a result, the clergy are now doing slightly less on a Sunday morning than they used to. They are also regularly able to take part in leading the children's worship.

Even the vicar is free to come & go when he is not directly involved in leading the worship.

How much planning goes into each Sunday morning?

All the people who leading the half-hour sections on any given Sunday meet together about ten days beforehand.

They discuss the Bible readings for that Sunday and decide on a relevant theme arising from those readings.

They then talk through how each of them will explore that Bible passage & theme in the section(s) they are leading.

Finally they agree on a 'conversation topic' which is used three or four times during the morning when worshippers have an opportunity to talk among themselves.

They then go home and continue their own prayer and preparation.

What happens in each of the half hour sections?

8.00am Morning Prayer: the traditional 'Prayer Book' service of 'Matins', slightly shortened, with prayers, Bible readings and ancient Psalms & Canticles (there is no singing at this time in the morning).

8.30am Traditional Communion: the Communion part of the Holy Communion service in the 'Book of Common Prayer – 1662', along with a short sermon.

9.00am Breakfast & Conversation: a continental breakfast, preceded by a traditional prayer of thanksgiving. Sometimes we chat about the theme for the day, sometimes we just chat.

9.30am Songs of Praise: a selection of well loved hymns & songs, interspersed with a short Bible reading, a 'thought for the day', and time for prayer.

10.00am Understanding our Faith: a reading from the Bible, followed by a 'sermon' applying the theme of the reading to life and faith in the 21st century. Then a song and some prayers to give you time to respond to God.

10.30am Family Communion: a contemporary Anglican celebration of Holy Communion that links Jesus' Last Supper & his first meetings with his disciples after the Resurrection to the challenges and opportunities of our lives today.

11.00am Refreshments & Activities: after the communal announcements and a prayer of commitment to God, we disperse to a wide variety of activities, from coffee and chat, to presentations about different aspects of church and local community life. There is also an opportunity to talk and pray, in private, about particular concerns.

11.30am Praise & Worship: contemporary worship songs (with the occasional golden oldie) mixed with time to pray and a short reading from the Bible.

12noon Exploring Faith Together: a Bible story retold rather than read, a discussion instead of a sermon, and the bread & wine of communion shared together as an informal meal rather than a formal liturgical act.

12.30pm Food & Friendship: a simple ploughman's-style lunch with plenty of time to chat and relax together, beginning with some revitalised mealtime prayers.

How do children fit in?

It is particularly useful for families to be free to come and go according to their needs. There are a number of different ways that children can take part in our worship.

There is a special area for toddlers and the adults they bring with them, which is equipped with soft and quiet toys. Those with toddlers do not have to sit in this area, but may if they wish.

Between 9.30am and 11.00am there is a parallel program of worship for children in school 'key stages' 1, 2 & 3. This happens in the Church Hall.

The children leave the church building together at about 9.40am and return to join in the Family Communion at about 10.45am. If you are arriving or leaving between these times, you will need to bring your children to, or collect them from, the church hall.

If you would like your children to stay with you in church, we have activity packs suitable for children in different age groups (any of our 'Welcomers' will happily give you one).

On the first Sunday of every month the 10.00 to 11.00 sections are particularly designed for all the family. There is no parallel 'Junior Church' on these Sundays.

Between 11.30am and 12.30pm there are activities and involvement for children within the worship in the Church.

What were the influences for the Come & Go idea?

The activity that most typifies our current British culture is shopping. Shops work on the simple principle of having an opening time and a closing time. Shoppers are free to come and go at any time in between.

Almost everyone in this country has a television. We are all familiar with the idea of looking through a varied programme schedule and choosing what interests us.

The Orthodox Christians of eastern Europe have been coming and going in their worship for hundreds of years.

How have the worshipping patterns of people changed?

Overall, attendance has grown. Occasional worshippers are coming more often. New worshippers can now fit Sunday worship into their busy lives. Regular worshippers with another commitment can fit worship around other obligations.

Beyond that, the 'Come when you can & Go when you like' message has made St John's appear much more welcoming.

Before, people had to come to church on our terms. Now, they can come on their own terms. We hope that, in time, we will all become more familiar with God's terms.

How did the existing congregation cope with the change?

Understandably, people were anxious at first.

This is one step in a long journey of growth and development. Come & Go is part of an ongoing process of mission planning.

We consulted very widely over a period of six months. We gradually unveiled the new pattern, giving people opportunities to ask questions. We deliberately shaped the new pattern so that if people came at much the same time as before, they would get much the same experience.

Now that people have had time to settle into the new pattern, they enjoy the freedom and the focus that it offers.

We were, in effect, already open from 8.00am to 1.00pm, but the only options were to arrive at 8.00, 9.45 or 11.30. In reality, a considerable number of people regularly arrived late for services; those people now feel much more comfortable about their part in the church community.

It took us about a year to take the whole thing through from initial idea to introduction. Looking back, the amount of work that went into developing and refining our plans was well worthwhile.

Eden

When, in 2001, Deanery Youth Missioner Derek Spencer began researching youth work among the parishes in his Horsham area deanery, he found that nothing was on.

He invited young people connected with his 20 local, largely village churches to fortnightly meetings. One was held in a village hall, the other in a grammar school, both at different ends of the deanery to make the groups widely accessible.

With an emphasis on the social aspect of the Sunday evenings, the initial twelve members grew over a year to 35 Christians and non-Christians, who were keen to attend every week regardless of distance. As a result, the two groups amalgamated.

The best youth work is done in social events when the guards come down and they are relaxed,

Derek believes.

We built in a spiritual programme, but it was relaxed, not hard-line, a platform for their questions.

Further activities included a week's camping and a weekend away in a forest cottage, events still regarded as highlights.

'The best youth work is done in social events when the guards come down and they are relaxed'

Derek had also been visiting local schools, giving lessons and assemblies. The drama hall of the largest struck him as a potential venue for a service.

I spoke to the young people who were excited about using their school for God,

he says.

A meeting was held in Derek's own home – of those he had approached from among the adults of the deanery, including some parents – to pray and plan. A pilot service in 2003 led to Eden, a monthly, Sunday evening multimedia service, often employing zones (which people could dip in and out of), and with the freedom to grab coffee or coke at any time. While generally around 100, for special events such as a visit from Matt Redman, numbers can rise dramatically as young people and interested adults come from across the diocese.

In 2004, Derek was ordained in a unique training programme, a development in his personal journey, and this has enabled Eden to hold services of Holy Communion, often using material from the Iona Community. Derek's ordination to priest was held during an Eden service at the school.

Despite Eden's diocesan-wide appeal, Derek is concerned for the youth he began with, many of whom count Eden as their church and who were uninvolved with church previously.

'I don't want it to become just another church; I want to keep original and keep pushing the boundaries'

I want to make church for them,

he says. In 2005, Eden became a fortnightly service, alternating between a service and a 'talkzone' which takes the form of a public debate between local experts, followed by discussion groups and feedback. An extra service was held on Easter Day

to show that Eden is a church.

Derek foresees the ongoing youth groups amalgamating within Eden to become weekly cells and Eden itself happening weekly. In the meantime, it already has its own bank account and support from donations.

I don't want it to become just another church,

Derek says.

I want to keep original and keep pushing the boundaries.

What began with twelve local teenagers meeting in two different spots has grown into a fortnightly Eucharistic gathering held in a school, attended by around 100 young people and adults with a vision to grow into deeper fellowship.

Discovery Days

In 2003, Church of England minister Penny Joyce moved to a growing new housing estate in Witney, Oxfordshire, to start a community project funded by the Diocese of Oxford. She spent the first three months of her new role, which followed a curacy, 'getting to know people', in particular local churches and the school.

At the end of those three months, she sent a newsletter to every house identifying herself as a community worker and inviting residents to a meeting with the local planner. Around 50 people from the 250 houses then established on the estate turned up. This residents' meeting continues to take place once every three months, attracting 50 to 80 people at a time to its community discussions around wine and cheese. It is particularly valued by newcomers to the estate, which has now grown to 960 houses.

The estate is home, Penny says, to 'a huge cross section of people'. Social housing, young families, home-based workers and early retirees all live together on what, in its early years, has been a building site as well as a place in which to build community. Through the community project, Discovery Days, headed by Penny, these different types of people are able to come together in their own groups at different social and Christian-themed events. Events are advertised on a monthly community newsletter written by Penny and delivered by volunteers.

She spent the first three months getting to know people

The need for various activities is exemplified by an encounter Penny had early on in her ministry to the estate. While out and about she bumped into a young mother walking, looking for someone to talk to. Following this, a mother and toddler group was set up which attracts around 40 women each week.

Other regular events run by Discovery Days are a mixture of social activities and those with a Christian flavour. Families meet for Sunday tea and Christian-based activities. Men meet for football. Readers meet in a book group. Home-based workers meet for lunch. Christians on the estate meet in one of two weekly small groups, Discovery 1 and 2, while a second kind of Discovery group happens for seekers. More generally interested residents of the estate may attend Breathe, a social evening with wine, chat, and the possibility of moving through a series of stations provoking reflection on a life issue.

Christians are present at all the different events and activities whether social or Christian-focused. Penny sees evangelism in terms of a line of 10 to 1 (the Engel scale), on which individuals may be at the Christian end or the disinterested end.

I place events along that line so that people can choose,

she says.

If you're journeying at 8 or 9 you won't want to come to straight into a church situation, but you might want to come to something which looks at the basics of Christianity. We journey spiritually with someone and don't expect them to travel from a nine to a one in one leap.

By listening to the needs of the different groups of people within the community, Discovery Days offers a chance for everyone to discover faith and friendship.

Early Bird

When Victor Howlett began his curacy in 1997 in a market town in Wiltshire, he found that families were not coming to church.

Realising that it might take more than the four years of his training period to make existing church worship more family friendly, he decided to create a special service. On approaching the staff team he discovered a free half hour on Sunday mornings from 9am, after the 8 o'clock service and before choir practice, which he decided to call Early Bird.

Still unclear himself about what Early Bird would be, he invited a small team from the existing congregations to join him in visiting local children's groups with an invitation to church.

Posters were placed in shop windows for a monthly service, a method still used today.

Ten minutes before the first Early Bird service was due to begin, no one was in sight.

Then we heard the first buggy coming up the drive,

Victor says. That first half hour attracted 60 people, two thirds of whom were new to church.

It gradually developed into a service appropriate for 0-8 year-olds,

Victor says.

Always dads came rather than mums, which was unusual. They also automatically sat at the front!

By the time Victor left, a regular congregation of 40-50 was gathering once a month and continues to meet some years on.

The service is 'very unchurchy', with no candles, hymn books or robes. Songs of no more than two verses are sung from a book of six coloured sheets and announced according to colour. If one proves unpopular, it is replaced.

'Because it caters for children, the parents are pleased, but it also offers community.'

The service is 'always', Victor stresses, based on a Bible story.

If it goes well, we tell it again.

This spontaneity is important for success, Victor believes, something which sticking to a monthly rather than weekly programme encourages. Coffee is served afterwards and as people leave they are handed an invitation to the following month's service, which is always on the second Sunday since this never clashes with school holidays. Even if this Sunday falls on a festival such as Easter, it still happens. Children are texted or emailed between services to keep in touch.

It keeps working,

says Victor, who is now in his third parish and still repeating the Early Bird model, albeit under the name Jump Start Sunday. In the meantime, ten other Early Bird services have sprung up over the diocese (Bristol) and news of another in Berkshire and two in Wales has reached Victor, who occasionally gets

phone calls from the grapevine asking for advice.

Not all are called Early Bird, but all follow the original premise and emphasise that these services are church in themselves for the mostly fathers and children who attend, with some families choosing to come 'fully into the life of the church'.

We make a virtue of being early and design it for children and parents,

he says.

They know it's only half an hour and we describe it as 'the best way to start Sunday'. Because it caters for children, the parents are pleased, but it also offers community.

JustChurch

A new church for young adults has been growing in Bradford since the appointment of a city centre Mission Priest, Chris Howson, in October 2005.

The church takes inspiration from Micah 6.8, which exhorts concern for justice, and by liberation theology, expressed by Chris as

get involved in your context.

Liberation theology teaches people to act first, reflect later,

he explains.

Our job was to hit the ground running, to see what worked and ditch what didn't.

One of the first ways Chris sought to grow church was through JustChurch, a weeknight meeting that focuses its worship on the writing of letters on behalf of lobby groups like Amnesty International. Around 15 to 25 young adults attend, most of them new to church practice.

The old Anglican chaplaincy centre near Bradford University where JustChurch meets is also host to a fair trade café. On the first Friday of every month up to 80 young adults – most new to church – meet there for an evening of live music and poetry called Soul Jam.

It's about being alongside people and having fun, so people discover that this is a church that lets them be themselves,

says Chris. But he is also concerned to connect people with the wider church and holds a weekly Eucharist on Sundays at noon. Soul Space is a relaxed, informal Anglican service where the Bible is told as a story rather than read and discussion replaces a sermon.

We emphasise listening and making discoveries for ourselves,

explains Chris. The service, attracting around 25 young adults, lasts about 50 minutes, then moves to the café for refreshments. Sundays also see an afternoon discussion group on faith issues and an evening service of Christian meditation.

Young adults are introduced to any of these events through friends, and through actions such as peace vigils in the city centre, work with campaign groups, and a bike repair service run by church members jointly with a local squatters' collective.

Our aim is to encourage real discipleship, to show that the kingdom of God is about showing love, and that we can make a difference in the world,

says Chris.