Our three communities gather together each Sunday, and we’d love to welcome you. We meet at 9.30am in Bradfield, 10.15am in Mistley, and 11am in Lawford. Each church community has its own distinct identity, and you will be made to feel welcome to whichever one you join. You can find out more about each church community here.
It can be daunting to come along to church for the first time, so we thought it might be helpful to let you know what sort of thing you can expect. Most importantly, you will meet some lovely and friendly people, who won’t mind that you’re new (and can answer any questions you might have). Please don’t feel nervous about getting things wrong! Our services last about an hour, and normally contain the following elements:
- A place to sit. There are no reserved chairs or pews in our churches: sit wherever you’re comfortable. If you’re visiting Lawford, you can grab a tea, coffee or other refreshments first – these are served in our Link Room, just off the main church area, and if you want to sit in the church to consume them that’s fine.
- A service leader: someone will be at the front to offer a welcome, and to guide everyone through the service.
- Music: most of our services include music. Depending on which church you’re in, this music will either be hymns played on the organ or more modern worship songs played on a guitar or by a band. Sometimes we use pre-recorded music too. During the songs, you will be invited to stand if you’re able to, and you’re welcome to join in with the singing. If you’d rather sit and listen, that’s fine too. The words will either be on a screen at the front, or in hymn books (depending on which church you’re in).
- Prayers: in our services we will spend some time praying together. We will ask God to forgive us for the things we’ve done wrong – and all of us get things wrong! We usually ask God to help us with the different situations that face us as individuals and communities. We will likely pray for situations across the nation and the world, too. These prayers will take various forms: sometimes a person will pray from the front and we all join in silently, saying ‘amen’ at the end; sometimes it might be silent prayer together; sometimes people will call out their prayers; and sometimes it might be that we use physical props to help us pray, such as stones or candles. There may be opportunities for people to pray together, or to be prayed for if you wish. As with everything else in our services, you are free to join in or not – and nobody will mind if you simply sit and listen.
- Spoken responses: most of our services involve some spoken responses, where the service leader will say something, and the congregation replies. The words will either be on a screen or in a booklet, and you don’t have to join in if you don’t want to.
- Bible readings: as church communities, we believe that God reveals himself through the Bible, and so we spend time each week listening to these words together. Normally someone will come to the front and read out loud.
- A talk: normally someone will give a talk after the Bible readings, which will help us to understand the text, and to apply it to our lives. If you want to take notes, that’s fine.
- Communion: each of our communities takes communion together regularly (although not every week in every church). If it’s a communion service, you will be guided through this and all the words will be on the screen or in a booklet. At the appropriate point, everyone will be invited to come forward to receive bread and wine, as a way of remembering everything that Jesus has done for us. The bread and wine represent his body and blood. Everybody is welcome to come and receive, but if you aren’t sure you can still come forward and someone will pray a blessing for you (just keep your hands down so they know you don’t want to receive the bread and wine). Alternatively, of course, you can stay in your seat and not come up at all: this is fine too.
- Children’s work: at Lawford church we have a children’s group which meets every week. The children normally stay in for the first song or two, and are then invited to leave and go to their group (which takes place in the attached church hall). They will come back into the service just before the end (or just before communion if it’s a communion service).
If you have any questions about anything on this page, or anything you’ve encountered on a previous visit to our churches, please feel free to contact us. We’d love to hear from you.