This Sunday is our Churches Together One World Week service. Quite when the OWW organsiation and the churches got so out on synchon dates I don't know, but OWW is now early in the year and the service remains in October. All this is a bit of an aside really, to wondering what other Churches Together groups share by way of services? Our current pattern is that we share the following (arranged to fit the liturgical year!):
Advent 3 - Outreach Carol event (evening, with food, lots of)
Christmas Eve - Christingle to support denominational(-ish) children's charities
Christmas Day - united celebration service
Week of prayer for Christian Unity - united service (afternoon)
Ash Wednesday - Anglicans invite free churches along
Lent - joint study groups
Good Friday - united outreach event, morning
Easter Sunday - joint Methodist-Baptist breakfast service
Ascension - united service with communion; rite of host church
Pentecost - united outreach event (afternoon)
OWW - united service (afternoon)
This seems to me to be a good level of co-operation and shared worship with at least part of every major festival being spent/celebrated together. I'm not going to pretend there aren't any politics or huffs, because there are certainly both, but what we do find is that outreach is 'better together' with people usually impressed to discover that Christians can work with, rather than against, each other. I wonder what others think?
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The Rector told us last night that OWW is NEXT week, so it includes united nations day.
Quite pleased to hear that KM isn't the only place celebrating THIS week!!
We have joint services for week of prayer for Christian unity, Christian Aid week, and Service for Peace on Remembrance Sunday. And traditionally our church (Union Church of Baptist and URC) has met with the local Anglican church on Maundy Thursday, alternatively at their place with the minister of the Union Church preaching, and then at our place with the Anglican vicar preaching.
In addition, Churches Together send out Easter and Christmas leaflets to the whole of the community with invitations to the services taking place in our churches during those Christian festivals.
Over the last three or four years we have got together for Carol Singing in the High Street on the Saturday before the third Sunday in Advent. And last year, for the first time, we had a walk of witness on Good Friday, culminating in a short service outside the library.
During Lent we have both Lenten house groups and also each week, on a Tuesday night, a series of studies led by the local clergy. I have enjoyed sharing in those. Over the last few years we have looked at a. Journeys in the Bible, b. Trees in the Bible (entitled 'From the Garden to the Cross'), c. What our Saviour saw from the cross (based on the painting by James Tissot) and d. The colours of the cross.
I wish that we could get more involved in mission together, but it seems that most of the other churches see Churches Together as more being involved in worship together rather than outreach together.
I'm not sure we really know exactly when OWW is, we just keep it on the third Sunday of October and no one seems to mind too much!
I think for us as small churches, working together in mission is sometimes as much necessity as desire!
I'm an ecumaniac at heart, but some of my fellowship clergy aren't - there are a number who never come to an event unless it's in their own church. And so often the attitude of the clergy is mirrored in the attitude of their church folk. So attendance is sporadic and patchy, which is a shame - especially so if it is a mission event which doesn't take place in any of our churches.