Service Explanations

Every act of worship begins with gathering. In the earliest days of the church, Christians would slip quietly into someone’s home to pray and break bread. Later, when worship was made public, ministers would process in, carrying candles and the Gospel book, to show that what was about to happen was something holy. However simple or formal, the meaning is the same: scattered people are drawn together to become one body in Christ. We begin by naming the God we…

From the very first centuries, Christians used a simple gesture to remind themselves who they belonged to. They traced a cross on their bodies. It goes back even further, to the prophet Ezekiel. He saw a vision of people chasing money, power, and pleasure – and ignoring God. But those who stayed faithful were marked on the forehead with the Hebrew letter T – shaped like a cross. That mark became a sign of belonging, a sign of God’s protection.…

Every relationship needs forgiveness. Without it, hurts pile up, guilt festers, and we carry the weight of regret. With it, there is freedom – freedom to begin again. That’s why, early in the service, we come to the Prayers of Penitence. It’s a moment of truth-telling before God. We hear words of scripture: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins.” The invitation is simple but searching: if God’s…

In Luke’s Gospel there’s a story of two disciples walking to the village of Emmaus after Jesus’ crucifixion. They were discouraged, weighed down with disappointment. They had hoped Jesus was the one to redeem Israel, but now he was gone. As they walked, a stranger joined them. It was Jesus himself, but they didn’t recognise him. What did he do? He began to explain the scriptures to them. He opened up the ancient writings of the Old Testament, showing how…

After we have heard the Bible read and preached, the congregation stands to say the Creed. The word “creed” means I believe. In its earliest days, it was spoken at baptism – the moment someone declared their faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit before being plunged into the waters. But as the church grew, questions and disputes arose. Who exactly was Jesus? Was he less than the Father? Was he simply a good man? In the 4th century,…

Prayer is one of the simplest things we can do, and yet it is also one of the most profound. It is nothing less than opening our hearts to God. But prayer is not just something we do alone in private; it is also something we do together as the Church. When we pray as a congregation in worship, we join our voices in what is called the intercessions. The word “intercession” means to stand in the gap – to…

At one point in the service, the priest says, “The peace of the Lord be always with you.” And the people reply, “And also with you.” Then we exchange a sign of peace. It might seem like a small gesture – a handshake, a nod, a smile, sometimes even a hug – but it has very deep roots. The New Testament is full of encouragements to greet one another with a sign of peace. St Paul writes to the Romans:…

At the heart of the service is the Eucharistic Prayer – sometimes called the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving. This is where bread and wine are set apart, and where we give thanks for all that God has done for us in Christ. In Common Worship there are eight different Eucharistic Prayers. Each tells the story of God’s saving love in a slightly different way, with different emphases and rhythms. Some are shorter, some are more formal, some echo ancient prayers…

Different answers have been given across history. In the Roman Catholic Church the traditional answer is called transubstantiation. This means that, at the words of consecration, the substance of the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ – even though they still appear to be bread and wine. The outward form remains, but the inner reality is changed. At the other end of the spectrum is a view often associated with some Protestant traditions, which…

The Lord’s Prayer is probably the most famous prayer in the world. Many of us learned it as children. For some, the first version we knew used the word trespasses. I remember as a child thinking trespass meant “keep off the grass” or “don’t climb the fence.” Later I realised it was another way of saying sin. But maybe that first instinct wasn’t wrong. To trespass is to go where you shouldn’t go. And this prayer, at its heart, is…

One of the most powerful symbols in Holy Communion is the image of the lamb. You may notice it in hymns, in prayers like the Agnus Dei – “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us” – and in the way Christians speak of Jesus himself as the Lamb of God. But where does that image come from? The story begins in the Old Testament. In the book of Exodus, when the people…

After communion there is always a pause. We have just shared in bread and wine, we have remembered Christ’s death and resurrection, we have received his life into our own. It would be strange to rush away without giving thanks. That is why the service includes a prayer after communion. This tradition goes back a very long way. In the early church, when Christianity became legal and Christians began to gather in larger public buildings, it was natural to add…

Every service has to end somewhere. But the end of the Holy Communion is not just about closing words and going home. It is about being sent. The pattern is simple. Notices may be given, banns of marriage are read, and often a final hymn is sung. But then comes the heart of it: the blessing, and the dismissal. First, the blessing. The priest speaks words drawn from scripture: “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts…