“Well, yes, we’d expect a church to do that…” Yes, and if we stopped worshipping God, or stopped believing in what we did, or lost confidence in the God we worship, we’d stop being a church! Worship isn’t just something we feel we have to do – it’s where we get strength for everything else we do. It’s where we get in touch with God, learn old and new things about God, give God “worth-ship”. And it’s from our worship that we are guided to get involved in the life of our community.
The style of our worship is quite traditional, but over the years we’ve slowly changed, to include some more modern songs, and in the last few years to become more child-friendly without losing the reverence that’s appropriate to being with God. We haven’t got it right yet – we’re on a journey…
When do we worship God? – Our main service is at 10am on Sunday mornings. It’s a Parish Eucharist, with sung settings of some parts of the service (which the children learn very quickly, as we sing them every week), Bible readings, a sermon and prayers, and the blessing and sharing of the bread and wine.
The service includes “family time”, with notices and celebration of people’s birthdays and anniversaries. And we stay afterwards for a drink and biscuit in the hall.
Note: Eucharist means Thanksgiving. It’s another name for Holy Communion – Communion means being closely together, with God and each other. Yet another name is “Mass”, which comes from the last part of the service, when we are dismissed to serve God back in the world.
We also hold a regular Communion service at 9.30am on Wednesdays. This is a quieter service, using the older Prayer Book form of worship. But the atmosphere of prayer, and listening to the sermon, is just as deep.
We hold baptism services on Sundays, at a time that suits the family and the church. These are booked with the family concerned, as are weddings, which take place on Saturday afternoons (usually!). And, of course, we welcome families to funerals in church, as well as at the local crematorium.
And, day by day, we pray Morning Prayer in the small chapel at the east end of the church. Sometimes it’s only one person – sometimes it’s half a dozen. We read the Bible, praise God in words ancient or modern, and pray for our world, our church and especially for our parish of Braunstone Park.