Come and Go worship at St John's, Hillingdon
Four people from St John’s Hillingdon came to the Watford Vision Day in January 2008. They report that there are three major areas of development: Come and Go worship, Monthly discussion groups and Baby & Toddler sessions.
Come and Go
This is a continuous period of worship throughout the morning, starting at 8 o’clock and ending at 1 o’clock. But it is divided into half hour sessions and people are invited to come and go whenever they like.
This initiative is attracting a lot of interest. People from South Africa, Norway
and Denmark had learnt about it from the Fresh Expressions website and visited the
church to look at what’s happening.
So how is this Come and Go worship structured?
It all begins at 8.00am with Morning Prayer the traditional 1662 'Prayer Book' service of 'Matins', slightly shortened, with prayers, Bible readings and ancient Psalms & Canticles (there is no singing at this time in the morning!).
Then at 8.30am comes a Traditional Communion Service, that part of the Holy Communion service following the ministry of the Word in the 'Book of Common Prayer', including a short sermon.
At 9.00 o’clock there’s a time for Breakfast & Conversation when a continental breakfast, preceded by a traditional prayer of thanksgiving, is served and people can chat about the theme for the day, or, if they prefer, they can just chat!
This leads into Songs of Praise at 9.30, a selection of well loved hymns & songs, interspersed with a short Bible reading, a 'thought for the day', and time for prayer, lasting until 10 o’clock when
Understanding our Faith offers a reading from the Bible, followed by a 'sermon' applying the theme of the reading to life and faith in the 21st century. This is followed by a song and some prayers and time for reflection and a personal response to God.
Interestingly, it’s often during the singing bits that the attention of the under 5s is lost, so craft activities are provided which the children can dip in and out of during the worship bits of the morning.
At half past 10 there’s Family Communion, a contemporary Anglican celebration of Holy Communion that links Jesus' Last Supper and his first meetings with his disciples after the Resurrection to the challenges and opportunities of our lives today.
This All Age worship session the most challenging, and is still something of a work in progress. But for some people it is the most meaningful.
It is all contained within a half hour so that at 11 o’clock there’s time for Refreshments & Activities which includes communal announcements and a prayer of commitment to God, and then people disperse to a wide variety of activities, from coffee and chat, to presentations about different aspects of church and local community life. There is also an opportunity to talk and pray, in private, about particular concerns.
At 11.30 it’s time for Praise & Worship, contemporary worship songs (with the occasional golden oldie) mixed with prayer time and a short reading from the Bible.
Then at midday Exploring Faith Together involves the retelling of a Bible story, rather than reading it, a discussion instead of a sermon, and the bread & wine of communion shared together as an informal meal rather than a formal liturgical act. It’s only now that the adults go into one group and the children into another. Both groups have the same topic but each approach it in different ways appropriate to the ages.
At 12.30 there’s Food & Friendship, a simple ploughman's-
The St John's ministry team plans a monthly theme which is used at all their services
and also goes out to the monthly discussion group leaders, home-
Monthly Discussion Groups.
There are two groups. The first grew from a coffee morning which the church hosted
at the local residents association "drop in " shop. When those premises closed down,
it moved to a garden centre, where there is a cafe. It isn't an act of worship and
prayer doesn't take place, it is simply sharing our faith in an informal relaxed
setting -
The other group meets in a sheltered housing complex and that, too, is thriving,
and the discussions are very fruitful.
Mums and Babies/Toddler Sessions
These afternoon meetings have recently been started in the church, and it is still very early days. The adults chat and the children play, and there's nothing too structured as yet. They would like to develop an act of worship within the session, certainly involving music. At the moment it mainly seems to be about building friendships.
More details on the website: www.stjohnshillingdon.org.uk