If anything on our website prompts you to want to visit our church outside the normal service times please contact our Parish Administrator Hilary Irwin between the times of 09:30- 12:30pm to see when this could be arranged and it would be most helpful if you could indicate your specific interest.

Special Services

Baptism

Baptism is for children whose parents want to celebrate their birth and start them on their Christian journey through life.  If you are a parent, you will be invited to meet us here to discuss what is involved. We hope you will find this helpful.

Baptisms usually take place around 3pm on Sunday afternoons by appointment, in the company of family, friends, godparents and members of the Christian community.

Baptism is also for adults who are finding their way in to faith and want to make an open commitment to the God who is committed to them.

If you live in another part of the town, we will need to talk with your local priest before making any arrangements. There is no charge for baptism, although we would be grateful for any contribution you wish want to give to church funds.

 Confirmation 

Each year there is an opportunity for those who wish being baptised to be confirmed. Confirmation is about moving on in the Christian pilgrimage in which the Holy Spirit is given afresh to equip a Christian to a life of service.  

Confirmations tend to happen on a Deanery basis at either Arundel Cathedral or one of the parish churches in the Deanery. These are presided over by Bishop Lindsey Urwin, the Bishop of Horsham assisted by other clergy.  

Prior to Confirmation, it is required that preparation classes take place. These are conducted by one of the clergy usually on a weekly basis following some directed reading. There are separate classes for children’s and adults.

 Weddings

If you or your partner live in St Wilfrid’s parish, or are on the electoral roll, you may like to consider the beautiful setting of our church for your wedding.

If you have a particular connection with this place, a wedding here may also be possible.

Talk with us well in advance, and before you book a reception. Weddings usually take place on a Saturday, but there are other possibilities.

At some point you’ll need to think about whether you’d like the choir to sing and bells to ring out, and which hymns and music you’d enjoy, but we’re here to help you with these decisions.

The cost of the ceremony will probably form only a small part of the expenditure on the wedding. If either you or you partner is divorced, we will need to discuss this with you, in confidence.

 Funeral

In the sad event of a loved one dying, one of the members of the clergy would be willing to take the Funeral Service, either at Church, or at the Cemetery or Crematorium.

In the first instance, speak to the Funeral Director who is responsible for arranging the Funeral.
They will contact one of the Staff to organise the Service time and other details.

There is a usually a visit by the staff conducting the service and the opportunity to have any further support following the funeral.

 Pastoral Care

For those people who are housebound or sick and would like to receive the Eucharist, there is a small group of people known as Lay Ministers of Communion who are able to provide this visit one of the parish nursing homes or people’s own accommodation. They are available to visit on either a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis depending on your needs. These also happen at a time suitable to the person. The sacrament is given and a short service of prayers follows.

We are also able to provide hospital visits to Bognor Hospital or St Richard’s in Chichester on request for those in the parish that are sick or dying. As part of this service, we are also able for those who ask to administer the last rites prior to death.

If you or a member of the family would benefit from either of these services, please contact either the Parish Office (01243 841275) on weekdays between 9:30am -12:30pm or the Vicarage (01243 821965) for emergencies outside these hours.

Further Guidance on our Services

All services at St Wilfrid's are open to everyone, whether you are young or old. Some of our worship is classed as liturgical; this means using established patterns of prayer to help us grow together into the mystery of God. It can seem strange and confusing at first when starting worship different to your own, it is our hope you will soon find this becomes familiar and that it can be a vehicle by which you can meet and worship God. This page is designed to be a  guide to help you find out more what what to expect.

Our main Sunday worship takes place at 10.30am with a Sung Eucharist. Our Third Sunday of the month at 10.30am, we have our Family Eucharist with a special theme and input from Nyewood Infant and Junior school. There is a rhythm of prayer and worship which is vital to our shared life together. Our worship is not confided to Sundays but every day, there is a Daily Eucharist which takes place.

At different times of year the character of our services changes to reflect where we are; for example great celebrations at Easter and Christmas, with more reflective during Lent and Advent.

If you have any further questions about worship or services at St Wilfrid's, please contact Adam May who would be happy to assist.

Sunday early morning Eucharist  (Every Sunday at 8.00am)

Each Sunday morning at 8.00am, there is a quieter said Eucharist to begin our day in the Lady Chapel with follows  one of two orders of service. Each week apart from the Third Sunday of the month, we follow the Common Worship; order one Holy Communion service. This follows a similar pattern to our main Sung Eucharist, and there is also a homily to reflect on the Gospel for the Day.

On the third Sunday of the month, the words of our Eucharist come from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. This is a quieter said service and has unsurpassed beauty to much of the language which makes the worship both strange and familiar.

Whichever service you attend, we come to meet with God to receive afresh in word and sacrament those things which we need from him.

Sung Eucharist (Every Sunday at 10.30am)

At the Eucharist, we gather to celebrate our life in God and God’s life in the world, made known to us by the words and actions of Jesus. The Sunday Eucharist is at heart of all we are and do. The liturgy we use helps shape and develop our spiritual life.

Choral Evensong (2nd Sunday of Each month at 6.00pm apart from in August)

Using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer with resonant and beautiful words. There are spoken prayers and readings from the scriptures, and there’s a sermon and more hymns with a collection.

The choir does most of the singing, when the congregation participates through a sort of active listening, the worship being carried by the song.

There is also a homily in the form of a story or reflection on an important aspect of the Christian faith.

The service marks the approach of nightfall.

Weekday Eucharist    (Monday to Friday)

The Eucharist is celebrated each weekday (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 10.00am; Wednesday at 6.30pm). It lasts approximately half an hour. The service follows a similar pattern to the Sunday Eucharist but without music and is on a much smaller scale.

There is often a short homily from the president or a longer period of intercessions. But the heart of it remains our meeting with God in the sacrament of bread and wine. The service is held in the St. Francis Chapel on a Thursday and in the Lady Chapel for the other weekdays.

Please there is only an offering of money at the Friday Eucharist.

Pray the Rosary

Starting in May 2008, a small group of people have begun to meet after the 6.30pm Eucharist on the Third Wednesday of the month in the Lady Chapel to pray the Rosary together. This comes as a response from the prayer and spirituality group to deepen our faith and explore different forms of prayer.

If you would like to try this form of prayer, please do turn up.

On a Saturday morning at 11:30am in the Lady Chapel, our Eucharist is kept in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Angelus  is said at the end of our service. 

The structure of the service is similar to our Week-day Eucharists; with readings and a short homily.

We  pray for the work of the Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham and the charity ‘Let the Children live’. There are also prayers said the Queen, the Mother's Union and the Choir.

Each Saturday, a quiet said service of Evening Prayer takes place at 5.00pm with the blessing of light from Celebrating Common Prayer following into the order of service form the Book of Common Prayer.

At the heart of this service is a pattern of recitation and reading, it offers a place of reflection and prayer as the day moves towards evening.

Our prayers take the form of praying for our Sunday worship and for those in need.

Alternatively, without an appointment for spiritual direction, prayer or confession, there is a priest on duty available on a Saturday afternoon in the Lady Chapel from 4.30pm till 5.00pm.