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What happens in a church service?

 

Each month we have a range of worship services, we also join together for special services at key times of the year such as Harvest, Remembrance, Christmas and Easter.

 

If you have children they are welcome at every service, in all their glory! We are delighted to have children around, so please don’t worry about them being noisy or active, they are welcome to potter about and explore.  At each church there is an area for children with toys, books and other activities that they can play with there or bring to a pew, or maybe do a bit of both.

The normal pattern of Sunday services across a month is:

St Matthew’s:

1st Holy Communion & Evensong

2nd Morning Prayer

3rd Holy Communion & Choral Evensong

4th All Age Worship

5th Joint

 

St Edmund’s:

1st All Age Worship

2nd Holy Communion & Choral Evensong

3rd Morning Prayer

4th Holy Communion & Choral Evensong

5th Joint

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Holy Communion on Wednesday, 10 am at St Edmund's

This is a said service with no singing. Refreshments are usually available afterwards. You are welcome to stay for a chat.

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Sunday, 10 am

Each month, there are two services of Holy Communion, one service of Morning Prayer and one All Age Worship service at both St Matthew’s and St Edmund’s. Tea, coffee and biscuits are served after all services at both churches in the Fellowship Room at St Matthew’s and the Church Hall at St Edmund’s.

All Age Worship

This is a very informal and interactive service. We think it’s important for people of all ages to have chance to learn about God and worship Him together, like a family round a dining table. We use a mixture of traditional and contemporary songs. Each service has an opportunity to say sorry to God for things we’ve got wrong and receive his forgiveness; a story from the Bible is either read or acted out; we spend time reflecting on what it means for us today in various ways at different services: short talks, discussion, craft/making, games; and we pray for the world and our community. The service is the same at both churches, on different Sundays, so if you can’t make one you can come to the other, or both!

Morning Prayer

These services have a robed choir. We use hymn books and booklets with the words for the service for people to join in with. Bible passages are read out loud and then someone reflects on the passage, thinking about how it relates to our lives today, plus there is often an activity that helps the children relate the passage to their life too. We affirm what we believe about God and pray for the world and our community.

Once every three months at St Edmund’s, Morning Prayer is a formal service of Choral Matins, using the Book of Common Prayer. These usually happen in January, April, July and October.

Holy Communion

The two Holy Communion services at both churches have a robed choir. They follow the same pattern as for Morning Prayer until after the prayers when we remind ourselves of what Jesus told his followers at the Last Supper, about his body being broken for us and his blood being shed for us. We then go up to the front where we’re offered bread and wine. It’s a powerful way of being connected with the whole church around the world and across time in an act of remembrance and worship. People who don’t normally take it, and children, are invited to come to the front as well, for a prayer of blessing.

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Fifth Sunday, 10 am

Four Churches

This joint service happens on the fifth Sunday of the month, bringing us together with our sister churches. It rotates across the four churches: St Edmund’s, St Matthew’s, St Nick’s and St Paul’s and usually includes Holy Communion.

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Evening services, 6 pm

There is a service at 6pm every Sunday at one of the churches. These are formal traditional services using the Book of Common Prayer. There are no refreshments after these services unless it’s a special occasion, such as the joint services celebrating our patron saints, Matthew and Edmund.

 

Choral Evensong

The St Edmund’s evening services are led by the minister, the choir sing much of the service. Bible passages are read and reflected on in a short talk or reflection, and we pray for the world and our community.

St Matthew’s has one Choral Evensong service a month and one Evensong service where hymns are sung but the remainder of the service is spoken.​​

St Edmund's and
St Matthew's
church office

01332 552031

 

steds.stmatts@outlook.com

Ch

Church Office

Kings Croft

Allestree

Derby

DE22 2FN

The office is normally open:

9:30 - 3.00 pm Mon, Wed

11:30 - 3pm Thur

9.30 - 1.00 Fri

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