Mission Action Plan 2008
Back to Church Sunday
Sunday 28th September 2008
We plough the fields and scatter!
On Sunday 28th September, we welcomed back old and new friends to our services to celebrate Harvest. At 8.00am and 10.30am, there was two Eucharist services presided over by Father Andrew Wadsworth, our Parish Priest. This is the first time, the Back to Church Sunday initiative has been used at St Wilfrid’s . The concept of inviting someone to church for the first time was something which many in the congregation at St Wilfrid’s had no experienced in the past. The initiative was designed to assist in making contact in the local community and particularly among our friends and family. Since plans began back in May to taking Back to Church Sunday, the experience has been a learning curve for all involved as it has challenged fundamental assumptions of the meaning of welcome and hospitability in our Church.
There are all sorts of reasons why people drift away from church and for many all they really need is for someone - you, me - to say 'Come along with me to St Wilfrid’s’. Harvest was the perfect time, the celebration is sincere, the music will be well-known, the flowers will be at their best and, most of all, they will be with someone they know you.
'All is safely gathered in'.
The first step through the door is always the hardest and with your friendly help this can become the first step to a new, a renewed, relationship with the worshipping community and with our Risen Lord.
So what might anyone returning to church expect to find in St Wilfrid's?
What do we offer? In answer to such a question I would say we offer:
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an encounter with God, in particular through the bread and wine of Holy Communion,
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a warm welcome into a loving family creative, incisive and engaging reflection on the bible for children and adults
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structured and beautifully ordered worship laced with informality
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opportunities for open study, a daily oasis and quiet prayer
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a compassionate listener for those in need.
“If church is like this, I'm coming again” Such occasional comments (made not least by those who come to baptisms and weddings) suggest that there are many people who would like to receive what we offer, but who just need that final encouragement across somewhat daunting threshold.
Maybe, the fact that this is also the day when we shall be celebrating our Harvest Thanksgiving, a day when we offer great gratitude to God for all his blessings to us and life itself as God's gift to us, could be a help! Even in this day and age I would say, 'We plough the fields and scatter' is one of those hymns, which most people know!
The 8.00am Eucharist was a quiet simple service in the Lady Chapel who provides its own opportunity for welcome and fellowship. The 10.30am Harvest Eucharist was much bigger scale, with the inclusion of the children and young people in the presentation by Wendy Morris. During the service, gifts were brought to the Altar and blessed by Fr Andrew to be distributed to Stone Pillow, which works with homeless people in the Chichester and Bognor area and to which members of the congregation already support. During the service, rather than a traditional sermon, Fr Andrew invited various members to explain about what they do in the life of the Church. This included the House Groups, Wives Group and children and young people.
The day was rounded off with
a service of Holy Baptism at 3.00pm. The Baptism of George James Gibbons
welcomed over 90 people to our Church, many of whom did not have a church
background. Although not part of the formal programme of Back to Church Sunday,
this provided an opportunity at the font to welcome a new member into the body
of Christ.
The whole day was a extreme success! Our prayer must now be, in the words of the
Harvest hymn ‘Lord of all to thee we raise; this our sacrifice of praise’
With every blessing,
Adam May
Website Development Team
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Individual Presentations: House Groups - Brenda Richards, Linda and Peter Beckley
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