Home | Services | Activities | Learning | Churches | Links

Some more information...

What happens at Holy Communion?
Holy Communion, also called the Eucharist, Mass or the Lord's Supper, is one of the two major Sacraments.  At the act of Communion those receiving Communion kneel at the rail in front of the altar and receive in turn a piece of bread - usually a  disk of unleavened bread called a "communion wafer" - and a cup of wine from which they take a sip.  As we eat the bread and drink the wine we share in what happened at Christ's last supper, shared with his disciples on the eve of his betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane and his subsequent trial and crucifixion.  We believe that we share ‘sacramentally’ in the life of Christ as we share the bread and wine, his sacramental Body and Blood

In the New Testament the First Letter to the Corinthians (usually abbreviated to 1 Corinthians), chapter 11 verses 23 to 26 says:
 

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."  In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."  For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
 

These or similar words are used in Communion services to this day, but before we receive Communion there is a time of teaching and confession.  To see an example of the order of service for a typical Holy Communion service click here.  If you would like to read the rest of that section of the Bible - or any other bits - click here.

If you have a look at the order of service you will see that it is broken down into a number of sections with strange headings such as The Creed, The Comfortable Words and the Prayer of Humble Access.  Be assured that it's really not as odd as it sounds!  Most services last for 45 to 60 minutes and in that time there will typically be four hymns, three Bible readings, a sermon and the act of Communion itself. 

The service is really a Bible class (the sermon will normally be based on the main message in the Gospel reading), followed by the Lord's Supper proper.  The precise order may vary but in our churches the key sections are:

Welcome and notices
Preparation
Bible readings
Sermon (for a recent example click here)
The Creed (an affirmation of our faith - when we recite the Creed we literally summarise our beliefs into three verses)
Collection
Prayers of Intercession (we pray that God will intercede to help others)
Penitence and confession (where we admit our sins in a public prayer - although we don't list our sins out loud!)
Absolution (forgiveness for those who truly repent)
The Celebration of the Lord's Supper (the actual act of Communion)
Post-Communion prayers.

What should you do when the congregation file forward to receive Communion?  If you aren't sure, the best option would be to go forward with the people sitting around you but when you kneel at the altar rail, instead of holding your hands in front of you as they do simply keep them to your side, perhaps holding your Order of Service.  Most Priests will take this as a signal that you do not wish to receive Communion on this occasion so will put their hand over, or gently onto, the top of your head and bless you instead.

If you were confirmed in the Church of England as a child you may receive Communion.  The Church of England also welcomes baptised Christians of all faiths who are "in good standing" with their church to receive Communion.  However, as the Communion is such an important sacrament the best advice might be to have a chat with the Priest beforehand if you can.  In rural churches the Priest may well arrive shortly before the service starts and at the end may already be late for the next service some miles away, so you may have to arrange to meet up during the week or before the next service.  You can expect a warm and gentle conversation rather than an interrogation! 

Don't worry if you are "brand new", have never been Baptised, or simply aren't sure whether you have or not.  You will be made very welcome from the outset and there will be a way of welcoming you formally into the church family, which is one of the gifts of Baptism, within a reasonably short time.  In many churches some of the most active people were Baptised as adults so you are in good company!

If you would like to know more just ask.  The contact details for our Rural Dean and Interim Priest are at the bottom of the churches page or why not just stop by for a service?  The details for this month are here.



The church year
The church year is split into two quite distinct parts.  The first section either starts on Advent Sunday in the run-up to Christmas, or the Ninth Sunday before Christmas, according to local tradition, and ends at Whit Sunday or Trinity Sunday (again depending on local tradition) in May or June.  During this time, which contains the major festivals of the church year, we hear through the Bible readings set out in the Lectionary, of God's readiness to walk among us as Jesus Christ; his birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension to heaven, followed by the Holy Spirit descending upon the Apostles and reflection upon the mysteries of the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit).

The second part of the church year, sometimes called "ordinary time", is devoted to study of Christ's teachings.

An abbreviated breakdown of the church year:

Advent (late November).  The time of preparation for the coming of Christ.  Most people are familiar with the Nativity, Christ being born of the Virgin Mary and so on, but Advent also deals with the preparation for the Second Coming of Christ, sometimes known as the Day of Judgment, the Parousia or the Rapture.  The four Sundays of Advent focus on what are sometimes called the "Last Things" - death, heaven, hell and judgment.   Don't let this put you off as Advent is a time of joy as well as preparation - for the faithful, Christ's coming is a wonderful event.  Carol and Nativity services and the increasingly popular Christingle services mean that our churches are often close to capacity as the community unites in a celebration of praise and worship. 

Christmas.  Literally Christ Mass - the first major festival of the church year.  A joyous time in which we celebrate the birth of the infant Christ.

Epiphany (6 January).  The "showing".  The time of Christ being shown to the Wise Men or Magi.  This marks the end of the Christmas season and is the day following Twelfth Night, on which Christmas decorations are traditionally taken down.  From now until the beginning of Lent the bible readings gradually change from the joyous to the solemn as the year moves through "Sundays after Epiphany" to "Sundays before Easter".

Lent.  The preparations for Easter start on Ash Wednesday with the beginning of the season of Lent, six and a half weeks of reflection and, if not fasting, some sort of self-denial.  The day before Ash Wednesday is Shrove Tuesday, better known to many as "pancake day", when supplies of rich foods such as eggs, flour and fat were used up in preparation for the austere days ahead.  In many churches Ash Wednesday is marked by a contemplative service, often a Holy Communion, at which the foreheads of the people are marked with the sign of the cross using ash, often from the previous year's palm crosses (see Palm Sunday).  The message is that "from dust you come and to dust you shall return", encouraging us to think beyond our immediate mortal needs to the life eternal.

The Fourth Sunday in Lent is Mothering Sunday or Refreshment Sunday, a day on which the faithful are allowed to relax their self-denial.

The Fifth Sunday in Lent is Passion Sunday, marking the start of Passiontide, the two weeks before Easter during which the church commemorates the suffering of Christ. 

The Sixth Sunday in Lent is Palm Sunday, which starts Holy Week, the most sacred week in the church year.  Palm Sunday marks Christ's entry into Jerusalem riding a young donkey, and is so named as the Gospels tell us that the people threw palms in Christ's path to celebrate his progress into the town.  On this day palm crosses are blessed and given to every person present. 

Some churches even organise a procession headed by a donkey.  Public demonstrations of faith such as this have brought parishioners together in similar ways over many generations - often ending up in the same village church that their ancestors would have worshipped in hundreds of years ago.

The Thursday of Holy Week is Maundy Thursday, so named for Christ's command at the Last Supper to "do this in remembrance of me".  The Sacrament of Holy Communion started at that moment (Maundy is a corruption of the Latin "mandatum", meaning mandate or command).

The next day is Good Friday, the day on which we commemorate Christ's crucifixion and death.  Churches sometimes have a procession on this day with one or more volunteers carrying a large wooden cross.  In the church building adornments are usually removed or covered as the church enters a period of mourning.  Why is it called Good Friday?  As Christians we believe that on this day Christ bought the salvation of humanity with his sacrifice.  On Saturday a vigil is often held, sometimes through the night, in remembrance of the dark days when Christ's body lay in the tomb.

This is immediately followed by Easter Day, the greatest and most joyous day in the Christian calendar.  Christians sometimes call themselves "Christ's Easter People" as our faith is centred on the three days from Christ's betrayal in the garden early on Good Friday to his Resurrection on Easter Sunday.  Easter Day is often celebrated with an outdoor "sunrise service" to greet the new dawn which represents Christ's triumph over the darkness of the tomb.  The timing of Easter varies between 21 March and 25 April so this service varies from quite early to painfully early and attendance is often at it's highest when Easter is early!

The Easter season draws to a close forty days later with Ascension Day, which marks Christ's Ascension into heaven and the end of His time on earth.  Two Sundays later is Pentecost (from the Greek for "fiftieth" as it falls 50 days after Easter) also called Whit Sunday (hence the Whitsun bank holiday).  On this day the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to carry on Christ's work.  According to local tradition either this Sunday or the following one - Trinity Sunday - marks the start of "ordinary time", during which we reflect on Christ's teaching.

Ordinary Time
A fairly quiet time, but not lacking in festivals, of which the most important are:

Harvest Thanksgiving (September or October) at which we give thanks for the fruits of the harvest and try to show our appreciation by helping those less fortunate than ourselves in the developing world.  Usually followed by a Harvest Festival which can include a procession, a village show and a meal at which the community comes together in joyous thanksgiving.  In rural communities such as ours many people are still directly connected to the land and harvest festival is one of the big events in the social calendar.

All Saints' Day (1 November) at which we pray for those who have died and started their eternal journey.  Another name for this day is All Hallows Day, so the day before is All Hallows Eve, corrupted to Halloween.

Remembrance Sunday.  The Sunday closest to Armistice Day (11 November).  This is an opportunity to remember and give thanks for the sacrifice made by millions of men and women who died for our freedom.  Most churches invite representatives of the armed forces, either serving or ex-forces in the form of the Royal British Legion, to parade into church, to give one or more of the readings and to lead the congregation to the local war memorial for the dedication and laying down of poppy wreaths.  Many of the people named on the memorial will have relatives present in the congregation and, as we remember with thanks and sadness the fallen and those permanently afflicted by conflict, this can often be a particularly poignant service.



Concise glossary of "churchy" words
This is a functional glossary which aims to provide definitions that are accurate in practical, day to day terms for people who are unfamiliar with the church world.  For precise theological definitions consult an approved text!
Words in bold have their own definitions within the glossary.

Altar	The table on which the Eucharist is celebrated.  The focal point of the church.
Baptism	The Baptised person is cleansed from sin, made part of God's family and receives the gift of the Holy Spirit.  In our churches the outward sign of Baptism is the pouring of water from the font over the head of the candidate.
BCP or 1662	The 1662 Book of Common Prayer - often refers to a traditional service using this book.
Bishop	The third Order of Clergy, typically responsible for a District (Bishop of Shrewsbury) or Diocese (Bishop of Lichfield).  For more information see the "Church Organisation" section below this glossary.
Chancel	The eastern compartment of the church, containing the Altar.
Christening	The Baptism of a child or infant in which it is also formally named before the People.
Churchwarden	Two per church, elected by the People to serve as the Bishop's officers in the parish.  Responsible for representing the Laity; co-operating with the Incumbent; encouraging the People in their worship; looking after the church buildings and grounds; taking services in the absence of a Priest or other worship leader.
Clergy	Ordained members of the church, belonging to one of the three Orders of Clergy: Deacon, Priest or Bishop.
Collect	Nothing to do with the collection (see Offertory for that), the Collect is the prayer said before the readings.  It "collects" or sums up the theme of that day's readings.
Creed	A summary of our faith, in which we state exactly what we believe.  For the words of the most commonly used creed  (the Nicene Creed), click here
Curate	Normally a Deacon or Priest who assists or covers for the Incumbent.
Deacon	The first Order of Clergy, subordinate to Priest and Bishop.  Newly ordained ministers usually spend their first year or longer as a Deacon.  They are unable to preside at Holy Communion, solemnise a marriage or give a Blessing, and can be recognised by the wearing of the stole (the embroidered "scarf" worn at services) as a sash that passes over the left shoulder and under the right arm.
Eucharist	Another term for Holy Communion.  Also called Mass or the Lord's Supper.
Evensong	Also known as Evening Prayer.  A typical service would have readings from the Old and New Testaments and the Book of Psalms, but may well not have sung hymns.
Gospel	This can either refer to the Good News of the Kingdom of God as preached by Jesus Christ during his time on earth or one of the four New Testament Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Holy Communion	This Sacrament is a 'sacred meal' commemorating Christ's Last Supper, shared with the Apostles on the eve of his betrayal and execution, in which we share in the life of Christ and in the result of God’s great desire to come to us and be one with us.  When we kneel at the altar to receive the bread and wine we do this “in remembrance” of what Jesus did on the cross, his sacrifice becomes present and powerful for us now.  He comes to us spiritually and physically through his presence in the consecrated bread and wine, a tangible, physical expression of his self-giving and life-giving love.
Incumbent	The Priest responsible for the church and its parishioners.
Lay Minister	A member of the Laity who has been specially trained and is commissioned and licensed to serve the church family in one or more ways.  Examples of Lay Ministry include Prayer Guides; Lay Readers; Pastoral Care Workers; Evangelists and Youth Leaders.
Laity	Members of the church who are not part of the Clergy.
Lectern	The reading desk from which Bible readings are given during services.
Lectionary	A sort of church calendar which details all of the "recommended readings for every day and principal festival".  This is the device which churches use to plan worship, themes for sermons and so on.
Lord's Supper	Another term for Holy Communion.  Also called Mass or the Eucharist.
Nave	The main body of the church, in which the congregation normally sit.
Offertory Hymn	The hymn during which the collection is made.  Not to be confused with the Collect.
PCC	Parochial Church Council.  A group of elected parishioners, Clergy and other church officers (Church Wardens, Lay Ministers) who meet under the leadership of the Incumbent to, in effect, run the church.  Most decisions about the ministry, organisation or fabric of the church are at least discussed with the PCC, although the Incumbent or his superiors may ultimately have the last word.
Parson	In its current usage this is often an informal term for the Incumbent of a parish, whether Rector or Vicar.  Strictly speaking the term should only be used to refer to a Rector.
Parsonage	Originally the house in which the Parson lived.  The Parsonage would normally be owned by the parish
People	Another word for the congregation or parishioners (people who live within the "bounds" or boundary of the parish)
Priest	The second Order of Clergy (above Deacon but below Bishop) and the one to which the majority of the Clergy belong.  Priests are able to perform practically all of the holy offices apart from Confirmation and Ordination, which remain the preserve of Bishops.
Pulpit	The reading desk from which the Sermon is often preached.
Rector	An historical title for the Incumbent of a parish, originally quite distinct from a Vicar.  See that entry for a fuller explanation.
Rectory	Originally the house in which the Rector lived.  The Rectory would normally be owned by the parish
Reader/Lay Reader	A Lay Minister who specialises in assisting at or leading religious services and other pastoral activities, although many fulfill a wide range of additional duties.
Sacrament	"An outward & visible sign of an inward spiritual grace".  Baptism and Holy Communion are the two major sacraments.  Lesser sacraments are: Confirmation, Ordination, Marriage, Anointing with Oil and Sacramental Confession.
Sermon	A talk or address, usually delivered by the worship leader from the Pulpit, in which they proclaim the Gospel of Christ.
United Benefice	A grouping of two or more parishes under one Priest.
Vestments	The "ceremonial" clothing worn by Priests, Lay Ministers or others (eg choirs) at services.
Vestry	The room in which the Vestments are kept and which Priests and others may use as a changing room before and after the service.  In most small parish churches the Vestry doubles as the church office and is where records such as birth, wedding and funeral registers are kept.
Vicar	An historical term for the Incumbent of a parish, originally quite distinct from a Rector.  A Vicar would have been employed by a Rector to care for a parish as his deputy, or, in other words, vicariously (is it making sense yet?!)  In most cases only the titles survive now, which is why some parishes have Vicars and Vicarages and others have Rectors and Rectories or Parsonages.
Vicarage	Originally the house in which the Vicar lived.  The Vicarage would normally be owned by the parish.

Church Organisation
Not as confusing as it first seems!  The Parish is the smallest unit, usually centred on one church which is set within a town, district or village.  Most parishes would originally have had their own Priest and "priest's house" - a rectory, parsonage or vicarage.  These days most rural priests are responsible for ("have the care of" in church-speak) a number of parishes which are combined into a United Benefice.  Our parishes form the United Benefice of Petton with Cockshutt, Welshampton and Lyneal with Colemere.

A collection of parishes or benefices form a Rural Deanery (even in towns), under the supervision and guidance of a Rural Dean.  Our Rural Dean is the Reverend John Vernon, Rural Dean of Ellesmere.

A number of Rural Deaneries combine to form an Archdeaconry, under the charge of an Archdeacon.  Our Archdeacon is the Venerable John Hall, Archdeacon of Salop.

In our diocese we are also part of the Area supervised by our Area Bishop, also called Suffragan Bishop, the Right Reverend Dr Alan Smith, Bishop of Shrewsbury.

There are two other areas which, when combined together, form our Diocese, the Diocese of Lichfield.  The head of the Diocese is our Diocesan Bishop, the Right Reverend Jonathan Gledhill, Bishop of Lichfield.

There are 43 dioceses in England, each of which belongs to one of two Provinces, Canterbury or York, headed by an Archbishop.  Our Diocese is part of the Province of Canterbury, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Williams.

Archbishop Rowan is also the head of the last two layers of organisation, the Church and the Communion, as he is both head of the Church of England and head of the Anglican Communion.  The Anglican Communion is a number of self-governing churches in the UK and overseas which are Anglican by tradition and practice.



<<Back to the "what can you expect?" page