What's on
A church is judged by its activities. That is inevitably true of every congregation because the diary of a church reflects the things which are important to the individual members and to the corporate vision of the whole.
Church Services
Our priority is the worship of God, so there are services throughout the day on Sundays from 8 a.m. with a small congregation meeting in the ‘morning’ chapel for a quiet said prayer book communion service with address. This is a ‘plus one’ congregation for we are often conscious of the presence of the Lord amongst us.
The morning service at 11 a.m. always mixes the traditional with the contemporary, usually lasts an hour and a half [and a little bit more when we have communion] and is attended by about 400 people (and growing). The type of service varies from Sunday to Sunday with 2 communions a month, a morning worship service and an all age event currently under the title of ‘Body Builders’ [lasting just over the hour]. This is a presentation which has received national attention and is full of creativity and fun.
Our evening services are still more vibrant with 100+ students present in addition to everyone else and are vigorous celebrations of our faith. There is less liturgical structure to the service which allows all kinds of different things to happen. Always there is engaging worship and relevant teaching, but also we may include drama, interview, space for contemplation and fellowship with the Spirit. Sometimes the service will last for an hour and three quarters with people staying on to worship and pray, or simply to be around in the building with others sharing a cup of coffee.
Home groups
Big church made small. Because our overall attendance is about 500 different people every Sunday it is necessary to divide the congregation up into smaller units to help the development of friendships and closeness. We currently have some 34 different groups including groups for men, mixed groups, student only groups, young people’s groups and special interest and special ministry groups.
Our programme of teaching is organised centrally so that material is made available for all the groups to use. Most recently we have followed material from the post-modern book of Ecclesiastes and a series taking a leaf out of Alan Sugar's book on the theme of "The Apprentice Disciple".
This session is being devoted to the "40 Days of Community" course written by Rick Warren of Saddleback Community Church, Los Angeles and based on his book "Better Together".
Jean Morgan [jean@stmikes.net 01970 617184] is responsible for the organisation of these groups and she is the person to contact if you are interested in being involved. Currently we have some 430 people involved in groups, which is about 60% of our membership. We would love to move it closer to 75% whilst recognising that there are seasons in the life of families and individuals where joining a small group is an impossibility.
Age related activities
We have a wide spread of different meetings and activities for all age groups from the very young in the Minikidz provision, to the children’s clubs, the youth events and groups, an extensive student programme including ‘the Living Room’, 'Music and More' for parents and toddlers, Mature Munch and Tea and Talk for the retired, and a whole lot more besides.
Check out these different groups and ministries on the ‘Who we are’ page of this website. If there isn’t something there for you then you could start a group and invite those who are interested to join you.
Special interest groups
Because the congregation is large and many people have found friendship and a new social circle within the life of the church there are often special events which are on offer to the wider congregation. From time to time football matches are arranged, there is a squash ladder, occasional bird watching expeditions, deep sea fishing trips, hill walking and many other activities too. There is no set and regular programme so you need to keep your eye on the noticesheet and/or on the weekly notices section of this page.
