in detail
(Assuming no previous knowledge!)
All services at St John's have Bible readings which follow
the Revised Common Lectionary. This is an ecumenical order
of readings for the Sundays of the year. It follows a three-year
cycle in which each of the first three gospels in their
turn takes precedence. The fourth gospel is read in all
three years.
The order of our Holy Communion services is based on the
most ancient texts we have of the eucharist, and are reflected
in the Common Worship texts Order One. The Church
of England consulted the same sources as the Roman Catholic
and Methodist churches to compose these services, which
is why they will have a similar look-and-feel to them as
those of our sister churches.
At 8:00am on Sunday and 10:00am on Wednesday the Holy
Communion service is said. A short reflection of the readings
is offered. The Wednesday service is usually followed by
coffee in the back of church.
The 9:30am service on Sunday has a full choir, includes
hymns and songs from both Victorian and modern collections.
Children are welcome and many choose to spend
part of the service in Sunday School in the Church Hall,
before returning to church for the Breaking of Bread.
At St John's, baptism is seen as a rite of admission to
Holy Communion. Baptised children will normally receive
bread and wine during the service, under the guidance of
their accompanying adult.
Coffee is served after the 9:30am service.
On Wednesdays at 7:30pm an ecumenical group gathers to
pray for the world and for the unity of our churches. On
Sundays at 8:45pm the Church Youth Group gathers to commend
the following week into the care of God, and to pray for
each other. Both of these services use a version of the
ancient service of Compline, commonly called Night Prayer
today.
On the third Sunday of the month at 4:00pm
is the Open Door Service. This is an informal all-age
service starting with tea and cakes and can be as many as 70
people or as few as eight.
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