Worship
Worship at St Andrew's
We hope you will join us for worship at St Andrew's and if you have never been before, we understand that you may be a little nervous when you come for the first time. We are a friendly community and we hope you will feel welcome. Some suggestions for when you come for the first time. Aim to come a little early (say 10 min before the service starts). Please introduce yourself to our people at the door who will assist you with what you will need. For information to help you if you are bringing children with you, please see our Children's Ministry pages.
^TopWhich service should I attend?
This is entirely up to you. We offer 3 types of services on Sundays. All services have readings from the Bible and meaningful sermons to encourage us in our understanding of God and his abundant life. All services have Holy Communion, after the manner of the early church which broke bread together on the Lord's day (Sunday) just as Jesus told them to. We share bread and wine, blessed by God for our spiritual nourishment, as a sign of our communion with one another and with God. If you have never had communion before, please come forward with everyone else to receive a prayer of blessing.
The 8am service has a minimum of music and is quiet and reflective throughout.
The 9.30am service, sometimes with choir, has singing and organ. It is a traditional communion service in modern english. This is the most common form of worship throughout the Anglican Communion. A children's ministry happens during the service for children to attend, except on the last Sunday of the month and during the January School holidays. This service would be a good service to attend for the first time, if you have worshipped before and are returning to church.
The 11.30am service, once a month, offers an alternative contemporary relaxed style. It has a band of musicians and while very child friendly, is accessible for all ages. This service may be a good one to start with if you've never been to church before. All the words we use are projected on an overhead screen.
^TopPrayer Books and Hymn Books - what are they?
At the 8.00am and 9.30am service, you will receive a prayer and a hymn book. The prayer book has the words to help you participate in the worship. The hymn book is our song book (a hymn is a sacred congregational song). Page numbers and hymn numbers are announced to help you follow the service. Usually we stand to sing, sit or kneel to pray, and sit to listen or reflect.
You will also receive our pew sheet, which is our weekly newsletter and contains information about the service for that day. Please return the hymn book and prayer book as you leave, but we hope you will take the pewsheet away with you.