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The Worship Sub-Committee

WHY A WORSHIP COMMITTEE?

The committee maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish. The Parochial Church Council brief is more formally: to monitor and evaluate worship and make suggestions for more closely involving the many disparate groups present within the parish.

HOW OFTEN DO WE MEET?

The committee meets three times a year after the major festivals of Christmas and Easter and then in September to set the calendar of worship for the year.

WHAT DO WE DISCUSS?

Each meeting starts with a review of previous worship and then addresses styles and arrangements for worship over the forthcoming period of time. Extra meetings are called when necessary. Such a meeting occurred recently when St Nicolas' refurbishment was complete and the committee met in the empty void to consider how best to organise the space for the variety of worship that takes place at St Nicolas'. All members contributed suggestions and building from the Maundy Thursday service a U-shape arrangement was set out for a trial period. The committee set the parameters for the trial period and agreed the style of consultation that should take place with the congregation. Other special meetings have occurred, for example when worship at St Nicolas' moved to the Church Hall and when the reordering of St Mary's was first considered. Where possible these meetings take place in the location under discussion.

OUR COMMITMENT

We are committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship. The committee are therefore keen to hear from you about styles of worship that you find beneficial and leave you with a feeling of spiritual fulfilment. Your contributions to our prayerful work may be about worship that is already taking place within the parish, the parts you find helpful and those you do not. It may also be that you have witnessed worship in another place that you have found powerful in enabling you to worship.

The committee is very aware of the dichotomies that are often present when trying to provide for a range of different people who find different styles suitable to different occasions and it is these dichotomies that so much form the centre of debate within the committee. Blandness is an area the committee strongly wishes to avoid. It is for this reason that the committee are keen to offer a range of services during the week and over the year so that people who find a quiet, intimate and reflective gathering, for example evening prayer may meet in this way. Conversely they are aware of the need to innovate and provide opportunities for people to try outgoing worship, for example Youth Worship organised and run by the youth groups of the parish.

WHO IS ON THE COMMITTEE?

The members of the committee represent a cross section of the worshipping community, they are: Father Stephen, Father Michael, Father Paul, Linda Biggs, Eileen Jones, Peter Attwood, Peter Brown, Ian Higginson, Kirsty Walters, Sam Matthews, Lorna Dymock, Gill Ashman, Colin Holman, Hazel Langley and John Moles as chair. Ken Bradbury and Jerry Porter are ex-officio as wardens. Members are recommended by the PCC and the committee is responsible to the PCC and recommendations are submitted to the PCC. All members are very willing to discuss and hear from you about worship.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Please contribute to worship by making comments on what we provide and bringing suggestions to us for the expansion of worship in the parish. It is your parish, help us to help as many as possible to worship our Lord.

John Moles

This article first appeared in the June 2003 edition of the Prestbury Parish Magazine