Worship & Faith
Worship is that part of Church life where we gather to sing hymns, say our prayers, and reflect on Bible readings to try and discern what God is saying to us. We acknowledge God’s great love for the world, made known in the story of Jesus. We recognise the presence of God’s Spirit within us and ask God’s help in shaping us as people who exhibit the same loving kindness that we see in the life of Jesus. We ask that God makes us good neighbours to all people, near and far. We therefore have a care and a concern for others, especially those who are lonely, hungry, homeless or in other need. We seek in worship to commit ourselves to live a life in service of other people.
We describe our Church as a discipleship movement shaped for mission. Taking in all that is written above, this means that; a) God shapes us for a life of service in mission to others; b) we seek to be a moving, living, dynamic movement in God’s spirit; and c) that we recognise the need continually to learn (a disciple is a student) about God in worship, prayer and study, in order to be the best we can for God.
Faith Development is therefore part of our purpose. Worship leads us to reflect on the Bible under the guidance of ministers and preachers who have been trained in church leadership. Bible study and other courses in spirituality help us to learn more about God, especially through the story of Jesus. But they also help us to understand ourselves better as spiritual beings.
In addition to our faith development work with children and families, we also offer focused courses to people in their third age – i.e. to those who are newly retired. Retirement throws up a whole set of questions about personal identity and purpose, some of which are best answered with reference to God. Often people have been too busy to address the spiritual side of themselves and we feel that in early retirement some people are able to make the time to get to know God better.