» Church Services
A typical Sunday
7.30 a.m. The church will be opened in preparation for our 8 a.m. service. A rota of stewards unlock the door, put on lights, ensure that heaters are functioning, distribute notice sheets to the congregation as they arrive.
7.40 a.m. The server arrives and lays the communion table in the Morning Chapel in preparation for the service. He/she will robe and have everything ready for the arrival of the celebrant.
8.00 a.m. A congregation of some 15 people will have arrived, representing a wide age range from students to senior citizens. This is a prayer book service using the Church in Wales liturgy including intercessions and a short Biblical reflection.
9.00 a.m. The church is briefly silent, although already members of the worship group are beginning to arrive to arrange their equipment, begin to tune their instruments and to do sound checks. They have an hour in which to do some rehearsing and preparation for the main morning service.
10.00 a.m. The choir arrive. They will have come in black trousers, shirts/blouses, and the men will wear a special Tie Rack tie chosen for us whilst the women will wear a matching scarf.
Simultaneously the church wardens will arrive to begin their preparations for welcoming the congregation.
10.30: The stewarding team will get their material ready for distribution. This is also the time for the welcome team to prepare to greet early visitors to the church.
The church wardens together with other praying members of the church will meet in one of the vestries for a period of prayer prior to the start of the service.
11.00 a.m. The main morning service will begin with a congregation of some 400 people present, including the children and young people who will leave us during the course of the service to go to their own special teaching groups.
Our services blend contemporary and traditional music and liturgy in a quite unique mixture. There is a lovely sense of the Lord’s presence amongst us, and a vibrancy and immediacy about the worship which never fails to lift the soul.
There are often interviews, sketches, choral items, special intercessions and an openness to the unexpected and impromptu.
Our teaching programme is carefully planned and fits into the material which the home groups are studying at their mid-week meetings.
We vary the morning service to include two communions a month, a special all-age event which currently is called ‘Body Builders’, and a monthly morning worship service which has evolved out of morning prayer.
12.10: The service concludes if it is an all-age worship event. All our morning services are followed by coffee and biscuits, and the congregation stays for a chance to build relationships and extend existing friendships. There is also a ministry team available for prayer ministry and caring support for people who are in need.
12.30: The service concludes if it is a morning worship service.
12.40: The service concludes if it is a communion.
1.30: The last of the congregation are heading for home and the church is being locked
The building may well be used in the afternoon for a private family baptism, for rehearsal preparation for our evening service, for a sketch or by one of our bands.
4.30: The evening worship team will arrive, set up, do sound their sound check and begin to prepare for their contribution to the service.
5.00: The wardens will return in preparation for their responsibilities towards the evening congregation.
5.30: The wardens, preacher and other intercessors will meet in one of the vestries for prayer.
6.00: The evening service begins. This is much more relaxed and less liturgically structured than the morning. There are many more students present in the service and they often make a substantial contribution to what happens. We worship, pray, take time to fellowship with the Holy Spirit, enjoy creativity in music and drama.
Once a month we have an evening communion. On many Sundays there may be a special guest event or guest speaker.
7.30: Out of term time the service will be drawing to a conclusion
7.45: During term time the service lasts longer, and worship may well continue beyond the blessing if it seems to be appropriate and there is a warm atmosphere of closeness to the Lord.
8.00: There are refreshments for all at the close of the service, together with prayer ministry on offer in the side chapel.
8.15: The students leave us en bloc for the ‘Living Room’, which is a special provision for them in the Castle Rooms.
8.45: The church is being closed down again at the end of another lovely day of being a part of the Christian family, and of being with the Lord.
Each quarter we produce a ‘What’s On’ card detailing all the services for that period, the preachers and any special events.
Special Services
Just before Christmas every year we have our Candlelit Carol Service. This is always a special occasion, with the church packed full, the Nativity play performed by our children, special choral music and good teaching.