Currently we hold two Church services on a Sunday morning—8.15am and 10am. These are corporate gatherings, where together we listen for what God is saying to us through all that is said and done, and where we respond to what he is saying in various ways.
The same service is used each week and runs for about 45 minutes. It is a quiet, reflective service with a sermon, prayers and communion. There are no sung hymns at this stage. Sometimes this service is cancelled for various reasons so please make contact before you come to check that it is on.
Lay people lead many of the services and the Minister doesn’t wear robes or a collar. We have a range of musical styles in the songs that we sing, and while we have some corporate prayers typical of Anglican churches, the content of these varies over time. Communion is offered most weeks. Children are most welcome and various aspects of the service are directed specifically towards them. Currently, we have a Sunday School style program for Pre-school through to lower Secondary School children, called “Mustard Seeds.” This operates in School term and for a large portion of the Church service. There are also places in the church for children to play in, and there is a small parent’s room that has sound from the service and a window to see what is happening in the service. Following the service we gather in the hall for morning tea and a chat with each other.
Typically they go for around 20 to 30 minutes and most of the time we are working our way through books of the Bible over the course of a number of weeks. Sometimes we deal with topics or doctrine.
If you haven’t been to church before or for a while, please don’t be anxious about coming along, thinking that you won’t know what to do or say. We want everyone to feel relaxed when they come and not feel like they have got to do or say anything. Please feel very free to sit and listen and just join in whatever you think you are comfortable with. We try and give some kind of brief explanation of what we are doing as we go, but please feel free to ask someone after the service about anything you didn’t understand.