Prayer & Spirituality

Someone once said that church without worship is just a social gathering, so we put prayer at the heart of our services; these are often called ‘the intercessions’, which means ‘between God and the person needing prayer’.

For our Parish Prayer Calendar, click here.

For our latest pastoral prayer list (those who have asked us to pray for them publicly, and those who have died recently) click here.

For Church of England Morning Prayer, click here.

For Church of England Evening Prayer, click here.

Other online prayer resources are available. If you have an urgent prayer request, please let Nicky know.

The Bible is important to us, but that - crucially - we engage our ability to think, reason and wrestle with the text as much as we do our ability to simply read it. Our faith is also personal as well as corporate. It is fair to say we identify more with catholic spirituality. We have a wide vision of God's Kingdom, a Kingdom which we do not so much believe we can make bigger, but rather help one another be more aware of it in places well beyond our church building, such as our homes, schools and workplaces.

Just as catholic spirituality seeks to recognise the divine in every day life, so do we recognise the image and likeness of God in every person, and how God's work of creation and re-creation continues in the natural world. This inclusive awareness inspires us to be a church family where all are truly welcome; in fact, those who are hurting, or subject to ill-treatment, such as members of the LGBTQIA Community, will find not just a welcome, but a place where you will be valued and celebrated. As an outward-facing sign of our commitment to this way of life, we belong to Inclusive Church and affirm the organisation's statement that: *“We believe in inclusive church – a church which celebrates and affirms every person and does not discriminate. We will continue to challenge the church where it continues to discriminate against people on grounds of disability, economic power, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, learning disability, mental health, neurodiversity, or sexuality. We believe in a Church which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ; which is scripturally faithful; which seeks to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation; and which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.”*

But, in general terms, spirituality can be something that is quite difficult to define. If you use the word 'spirituality', you might mean the expression of your religious beliefs, or you could mean your own internal self-understanding, or the values with which you live your life. You may be uncomfortable using the word 'religion' because of the somewhat unhelpful overtones it can give off, preferring instead to call yourself 'spiritual'. Whatever word you use, or even if you're still looking for the right words, come and give us a go...!