together
Together is the particular name of our service on the first Sunday of the month. It is a time, place and environment where the whole church family can gather ‘together’ to celebrate God’s love, but we aim for all our services to be inclusive and enabling, no matter what your age!
We aim for this to be:
- a time when we can worship together, serve one another and share our gifts as we explore how to
apply God’s word to our lives in the week ahead - no matter what stage of life or faith we are in
- a place to connect with God and others of all ages, deepening our relationship with God and with one
another, with opportunities to engage, reflect and respond in a variety of ways
- a conversational environment where we can explore faith and experience community together, in a
fun, friendly and informal way
This service encourages interaction and is an ideal service for all ages, especially parents and children, to explore worship, learning and faith 'together'. The service is split into three sections, each lasting approx. 20 minutes. We begin together with a time of expressive worship, which can include songs, spoken liturgy, drama, dance and other audio-visual mediums to help the whole church family explore a scripture passage and bible truth. A variety of zones are then available to explore this further, including:
On other Sundays, all ages have the opportunity to spend time in age specific 'zones' which are 45 minutes in duration, before gathering together. We currently have Totzone (for 0-2yrs), Kidzone (for 3-8yrs), Youthzone (for 9-12yrs) and Adultzone (for young people and adults).
We aim for our services to be visual and varied in content and format to help everyone follow the liturgical pattern and engage all. Duration of services varies from just over 1 hour on first and third Sundays and 1½ hours on communion Sundays. We use a variety of activities on different weeks to help everyone join together in worship, learning and caring for one another, with time to talk and time to listen - including a time when we can reflect on what God is saying to us and pray for our world. Everyone is invited to participate as they feel comfortable, so whether you are a regular member of our church family or someone who does not usually spend time in church on Sundays, we hope you will feel very welcome.
Getting involved:
We have a variety of teams who work hard to facilitate our times together. Areas where you can get involved are: hosting and hospitality; technical aspects like music and visuals and setting up the environment; art and creative elements; prayer; serving in our children's zones; production of weekly information and take home elements of our time together. If you would like to get involved, please contact Lorraine or Jenny and we will be delighted to discuss where we might use your gifts!