St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

An introductory article on the new blue services books at St Luke's. (At the time of writing the books had not been introduced, and the colour of them had not been decided. Drafts were in use at the midweek and evening services, for testing before the final printing.)

Prepare for new service books

The Church of England brought out the new “Common Worship” services last December, but here in our church we have held fire on them for a little while, so as to learn from others’ experience.

In some churches the people have opted for small leaflets, one for each service: so (for instance) the morning folk never see Evening Prayer and don’t know how it goes. By contrast, the idea behind our draft book is that everyone will be able to see what the other services use, so that when we are all together no-one will feel unfamiliar with the words we are saying.

The book contains a “Service of the Word” (the new name for Morning and Evening Prayer) which has the essentials of our All-Age 11.15am service in four pages, plus another two pages which relate to Evening Prayer and some special occasions. (We are considering testing the first four pages at some 11.15am services.) Then there is the text of the Communion Service with several options for confessions and the “Gloria”. The words of two of the eight new Eucharistic Prayers are included, but we will be able to use any of them as the people’s words are all set out as clearly as we can make them.

Finally, the book includes nine pages for thanksgiving for the gift of a child, weddings, funerals, and other prayers. So when folk visit for their one-off special event, they will get the chance to see what we do and maybe come back regularly.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. August 2001, Page 2.
Home Page. Index of articles. Worship: index, Common Worship, Our Father, Creed, New books, Creed 2. In this issue: (August 2001) Vicar's Letter, CW Books, Money, Question.	An introductory article on the new blue services books at St Luke's. (At the time of writing the books had not been introduced, and the colour of them had not been decided. Drafts were in use at the midweek and evening services, for testing before the final printing.) Prepare for new service books The Church of England brought out the new “Common Worship” services last December, but here in our church we have held fire on them for a little while, so as to learn from others’ experience. In some churches the people have opted for small leaflets, one for each service: so (for instance) the morning folk never see Evening Prayer and don’t know how it goes. By contrast, the idea behind our draft book is that everyone will be able to see what the other services use, so that when we are all together no-one will feel unfamiliar with the words we are saying. The book contains a “Service of the Word” (the new name for Morning and Evening Prayer) which has the essentials of our All-Age 11.15am service in four pages, plus another two pages which relate to Evening Prayer and some special occasions. (We are considering testing the first four pages at some 11.15am services.) Then there is the text of the Communion Service with several options for confessions and the “Gloria”. The words of two of the eight new Eucharistic Prayers are included, but we will be able to use any of them as the people’s words are all set out as clearly as we can make them. Finally, the book includes nine pages for thanksgiving for the gift of a child, weddings, funerals, and other prayers. So when folk visit for their one-off special event, they will get the chance to see what we do and maybe come back regularly. John Hartley
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