The church has a long history of having interactive services three or four times a year. We do this so that we provide less formal ways of connecting with God in our local community and with each other in fellowship.
What does this mean?
We gather together and begin our service with a welcome and a prayer asking God to bless us as we come together. After a few informal songs of worship, we hear the week’s notices. A Bible reading is chosen which can be understood by everyone. We then have a short talk or demonstration involving props or an activity which helps us all to understand an important spiritual message from the Bible. After another song, we break into small groups around a table with an activity of our choice.
Each time we have this sort of service, some people prefer to join a Bible Study group and there is at least one prayer activity. In other small groups, there are instructions for an activity or craft which brings the spiritual message from our Bible reading to life.. We also explore the passage using a selection of the following activities: drama, poetry, origami, construction, science experiments or artwork. After we do this, each group tries to share something we have learned with the whole church that we have discovered about our relationship with God. Though not everyone wants to say something publicly, we hope that everyone enjoys spending time with a smaller group to get to know each other more and is able to be encouraged spiritually.
We usually finish our time with a short reflection which gathers our thinking about the Bible and our lives and sing some more informal songs. We end our service with a blessing and a shared prayer called 'The Grace'. After the service some people stay to continue chatting over tea and coffee or a cold drink with some biscuits and the children play independently or join in as they are able.
Interactive Services for 2023