Our Worship and Teaching Programme - "Seasons of the Spirit"
Introduction.
The themes and teaching material used at our main services each week - which otherwise essentially follow the Church of England 'Common Worship' pattern - are normally based on a programme known as "Seasons of the Spirit" ("Seasons"). "Seasons" provides resources for the adult congregation as well as for each age group in our Junior Church.
Immanuel and St Andrew started using "Seasons of the Spirit" on 1st December 2002. It 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 coming into wider use in Britain, although we may have been the first church in England to use it for the adult congregation as well as children's groups.
"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, and so centres round Bible readings for the day which are broadly the same as those we were using for some years before we adopted "Seasons" and which 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. For more about the seasons of the Church calendar and the way we follow them at Immanuel visit the Seasons? What Seasons? page in the May we help? section.
We keep the programme under review and have made a number of changes to the way we use the resources since they were adopted. Our first review was at the end of 2003, when we carried out a survey after we had been using it for a year. At the beginning of 2006, in the light of 3 years' or so of use and after discussions with the Ministry Team, Churchwardens and the Parochial Church Council (PCC) we made extensive changes, principally to use the "Seasons" material for the adult congregation in a 'sacred space' within the Communion Service rather than in a separate seminar beforehand, as had been the practice initially. We reviewed and modified the 'sacred space' arrangement in 2007, following further discussions and another survey of the congregation.
The 'sacred space' comes immediately after the sermon. It is a break, a time of silence, in which to consider the theme and readings for the day, any issues raised by the preacher or arising from the sermon, and any materials that have been given out. Members are free to use the 'sacred space' as they see fit, but it is up to the preacher to suggest what they may do, provide material if appropriate and decide how long the 'sacred space' lasts - which is normally just a few minutes.
The section 'Sunday Morning Service - our Worship Pattern.' below explains in more detail how we now use the material.
The archived pages Parish Life Programme 2006-2007, Parish Life Programme 2003-2006 and "Seasons" Review 2003 show how we ran the programme previously.
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Sunday Morning Service - our Worship Pattern.
Our main service begins at 10:00am. On all except the third Sunday of each month it is a service of Holy Communion. Junior Church members start in Church with the adults for the opening of our worship before going to their various activities divided up by age groups, each of which has its own set of "Seasons" resources with teaching material and activities.
The adults then continue with the Communion Service, which follows 'Common Worship' Order 1. The sermon is generally traditional in format but the preacher may make use of of the "Seasons" resources. He or she may also offer ideas or subjects for meditation and prayer, or introduce material to read or other appropriate activities for the 'sacred space', many of which will came from, or have been suggested by, the "Seasons" material.
Following the 'sacred space', the service continues and the children and young people rejoin the adults during the sharing of the 'Peace'. The children may be invited to show what they have been doing.
On the third Sunday of the month there is a 'Common Worship' 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 and no 'sacred space' break, but the "Seasons" resources may well be used in the sermon, talk or other activities in the service. The service is preceded at 9:00am by a short celebration of Holy Communion.
You can go to the Services page to see how the arrangements work each week. Details of services in the next week or two are in the News and notices and Diary pages
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 and Diary pages at the time.
Links to the main pages are at the TOP of the page.
Page last updated 16 December 2007.
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© Copyright David Gray and PCC of Immanuel and St. Andrew Streatham 2006. Photographs copyright David Gray 2002-7
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