Immanuel and St Andrew's Teaching Programme Page

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Our Parish Life Programme - "Seasons of the Spirit"
(as used 2003-2006)

Introduction.

"Seasons of the Spirit", which Immanuel started using on 1st December 2002, comes originally from Canada, but is now a world-wide resource based on the work of Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and American Christians. It is now coming into use in Britain, and we were probably the first church in England to use it for the adult congregation as well as children's groups.

We adopted "Seasons" primarily because we believe it offers us a great opportunity for growth as Christians and will strengthen the bonds of community between members, as well as helping everyone to make better connections between what we do in church and how we live outside it. In a "Seasons" seminar or group all members are encouraged to think for themselves about the scripture passages and have the opportunity to contribute, to voice opinions, to share experiences and to make a response. It is not just a matter of listening to one person as in the traditional "talk" or sermon, and we hope people will find it a more enjoyable, worthwhile and effective learning experience. We reviewed the programme at the end of 2003 and made a number of changes, but overall we still believe it is right for us. You can view the summary of the results of the survey we carried out in 2003 on the "Seasons" Review 2003 page (now part of our Web Archive).

"Seasons" follows the church calendar and observes the seasons - Advent, Christmas, Lent, etc. - hence its name! The material is based on the Revised Common Lectionary - in other words, it centres round Bible readings for the day which are broadly the same as those we have been using for some years. These readings are used in many other Anglican churches as well as churches of other denominations both in Britain and abroad. "Seasons" is an ecumenical programme, with members of many different denominations contributing to the material. For more information about the programme visit the "Seasons of the Spirit" website at www.spiritseasons.com

Please pray for all those who lead the programme. Preparing a session involves a lot of work and much of what has to be done is new or different from what has been done in the past. There is often a need to adapt or expand the material to meet the particular needs of our congregation, and this can sometimes involve extra work. We have adopted "Seasons" because we believe it is the right move and God is leading us, but it is not in any way an easy option!

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Sunday Morning Service - the new pattern.

Our services normally begin at 10:00 am. On the first and third Sundays of each month the morning begins with seminar groups for everyone, including adults, divided up by age groups. We come together after about 45 minutes for refreshments and then go together into the church for our Holy Communion Service. You can read more about what happens in a "Seasons" seminar below.

On the other Sundays we don't have seminars or use the full "Seasons" provision, although we may well use some of the material from it in the services. On the second Sunday of the month there is a Service of the Word (i.e. a service without Communion) suitable for all ages. If there are any baptisms they normally take place at this service. There are no separate groups for children on this Sunday. Later, at 12:00 noon, there is a short celebration of Holy Communion.

On the fourth Sunday (and the fifth, if there is one) there is a Parish Communion Service with a traditional sermon for adults. Children and young people have separate groups similar to those on the first and third Sundays, but join the main service part way through.

You can go to the Services page to see how the new arrangements work each week. Details of services in the next week or two are in the Immanuel Parish Diary section of the "News and Notices" page. Note that the pattern normally changes around the time of major festivals such as Christmas and Easter to allow us to hold the special services appropriate to the occasion, and we usually adopt a special summer programme from late July to early September. Details appear on the "News and Notices" page at the time.

Our worship after the seminars on the first and third Sundays, and in the services on the other Sundays, follows the Church of England "Common Worship" pattern. However, we often make use of the wealth of worship material that "Seasons of the Spirit" provides such as music, readings, responses, meditations, prayers - and sometimes more unusual activities - to supplement and enrich our Anglican worship tradition. There is no sermon on the first and third Sundays as we have already spent time studying God's Word in the seminars. On the other Sundays the preacher may well make use of ideas from the "Seasons" programme in the "sermon slot" and not just deliver a monologue!

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What happens in a "Seasons" seminar?

We are supposed to enjoy ourselves when learning, and "Seasons" uses a wide variety of learning techniques, including practical activity, crafts, art and music as well as the more "grey matter" stuff we are used to using when we learn. (Sermons only use one - the "talk") However, there is a structure to each session:

Gather: A short time of preparatory worship, helping us to focus on God, creating a holy and hospitable environment and building community.
Engage: Exploring together the meaning of the Bible passage. Not about giving "right" answers, but about exploring how we make connections between the Bible and our world using life experience, story-telling, interpretation and the arts.
Respond: Activities for a range of learning styles helping us to respond to the themes of the passage in concrete ways.
Bless: A short celebration of what we have learned, sending us out empowered by God and one another.

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Links to related pages...

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"Seasons" Review 2003 (archive)

Page last updated 24 August 2006.

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