Worship

Our Worship

Over the course of a month, the worship at St Mary’s alternates between a communion service and a non-Eucharistic service of the Word.

The communion service is led by a priest, and usually happens on the second and fourth Sunday of the month. We use modern liturgy, and sing some of the set forms, such as the Gloria. One distinctive feature is ‘East-facing’ version of communion, where the priest faces the same way as the congregation during the Eucharistic prayer. This is to indicate that the priest is one with the congregation, and looks in the same direction they do as the host is consecrated.

The services of the Word are lay-led, either by the warden, or by an authorised lay-minister. The focus of this service is how God speaks to us through Jesus Christ, as witnessed to in the scriptures. On the third Sunday of the month, we have a ‘family service’, which is more informal in feel and slightly shorter in length.