Services at Eltham Park: A Description

Sunday Morning Worship: 10:30am

Our worship services are essentially of 1 hour duration. In this hour we seek to do a number of things that are part of the Methodist tradition, hence we have prayer, hymns singing and preaching. Approximately once per month we have the sacrament of Holy Communion, the breaking of bread and the sharing of wine (non alcoholic) as a memory and encounter with Jesus; this is understood through our faith.

Our preaching seeks to help understand the scripture and interpret them in todays society. Thus we look to our preachers and there are a variety of preachers, to interpret the scripture, bible, through reason, experience and recalling past wisdom, tradition. We hope this will inspire us to deeper understanding and commitment to the God we understand in the Christ, Jesus. Since we believe that he is real in the 21st century we expect our preachers to include reflection on life today.

Our prayers are said in response to our faith to help be in the presence of God and to see the world in and through His presence. They provide a time of self examination and time to ponder our attitudes to our neighbours.

Our Hymn singing is a traditional part of Methodism and was and may still be where we recall and understand our faith in God. Music helps us to remember and so make our faith available to us. This may mean that our hymn singing is not always the most modern, but nevertheless we hope it is appropriate and helpful. We do try to modernise our hymn singing!

Our morning worship occasionally deviates from the usual pattern as we seek to find fresh ways of encountering God. To this end we have roughly once a quarter what is called messy church. See ? Also we have family services where there is a deliberate effort to ensure that all ages can be together as the family of God and hence the content and the style is modified to this purpose. We are also launching mid week service for the very young in the company of the parents/carers.

We also believe that God has sense of humour so though what we do is serious we can also laugh in the process!

Sunday Evening Worship Service: 6:30pm

Evening services are on the whole of a similar structure to the morning services but perhaps more reflective. They are shared around the circuit and hence you should check where they are taking place.