Worship and Services
Sunday Service
We welcome you to the Sunday service at 9.45am with Communion.
Come to our small, ancient church. It is ‘church like it used to be’. We follow the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Readings are from the Authorised Version of the bible (the ‘King James’ bible). And we sing four traditional hymns from the New English Hymnal.
So, join the many who live in the parish and enjoy the friendly atmosphere and a traditional service that we know and love.
The service is led by Herbert Bennett, our Associate Vicar. On occasions, Peter Shears, Lay Reader, leads Morning Prayer without communion. You are very welcome at any of our services. Afterwards you can enjoy tea and coffee and biscuits in Cliffe Hall right next door.
Also, on the first Wednesday of every month we have a ‘said’ Holy Communion service at midday.
For our many special events throughout the year, see our What’s On Diary.
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer
We rejoice in the beauty, poetry, majesty, and depth of spirituality of the much-loved 1662 Book of Common Prayer and the 1611 Authorised Version of the Bible.
- The Book of Common Prayer was first introduced by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in 1549. It was finalised under an Act of Uniformity in 1662. It is the founding liturgy of the Anglican church.
- All readings are taken from the King James Bible, the ‘Authorised Version’ published in 1611 under the auspices of King James I.
- Our Sunday morning service includes traditional hymns from the New English Hymnal.
Reading the Old Testament
Some thoughts from Fr Neville:
The Book of Common Prayer, which we use at St Thomas’, relegates the reading of the Old Testament to Morning and Evening Prayer. Having said that, those services were widely observed in the Anglican Church, with the Eucharist often being kept for special occasions. This meant that most people were very familiar with the Old Testament. The system of assigned Bible readings designed to guide congregations through the scriptures (the ‘lectionary’), as prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer, works through the whole of the Old Testament on a yearly basis. In more modern liturgy it is normal to have three readings, the first being from the Old Testament so that people hear selections from it regularly.
However, I have often been asked about why we read the Old Testament at all. Some people argue that it is full of violence and doesn’t reflect the loving God that we see in the person of Jesus. Is that a valid criticism and, if not, then how should we read the Old Testament?
Let’s explore further.
Above all, the Old Testament reflects the gradual divine revelation of God to man. It is ‘salvation history’ recorded over a period of more than a thousand years. Probably as early as David and Solomon, out of a jumble of myth, legend and history, there appeared the earliest written form of the story of the saving acts of God.
It contains a unity centred on a belief in the God of judgement and redemption, of justice and mercy and how that played out in the group of people chosen by God, and from whom was to come Jesus of Nazareth. This is salvation history and we need to learn from it, or condemn ourselves to making the same mistakes. But it is important to remember that it was a long time before the idea of Scripture arose, before anyone thought about compiling the works that had been written over the centuries, and the Old Testament took its present form.
Remember that Jesus was a Jew, and a rabbi at that. He saw himself as part of that history, and his actions and beliefs can only be understood in that context. Similarly, the apostles were also Jews and well versed in that gradual revelation of God to man, and then how they saw it culminate in the person of Jesus.
There were textual conflicts and contradictions that often came from the fact that many of the older parts of the Old Testament were originally oral tradition. It is our modern minds that attempt to reconcile these, or, for some people, to reject the whole. However, for those ancients who gathered these accounts together, each account had something valuable to add to the overall story and it was not their role, as they saw it, to distinguish between those conflicting accounts, or to edit those accounts.
For instance, read the first three chapters of Genesis up to 3.24. In the first account of creation, the focus is on a watery environment and man is the last of God’s creations. However, in the second account of the creation (2.4b-3.24) man is formed first from the dust of the ground, and man is inextricably linked to the ground from which he was formed. So these two accounts sit side by side, the first probably from coastal people and the second from desert people. It is not a case of which is correct but a recognition in both of God’s lordship and man’s obedience.
That is a theme which permeates the whole of the Old Testament and that, in part, is why we should continue to read it, both in private and in church today.
Fr Neville (at St Thomas in our summer months and in winter Down Under in Australia)
Jeremy, one of our four organists.
The Church of England Year
Here are the highlights of the Church of England year. There are services at St Thomas’ on the days MARKED IN BOLD TYPE. Our other Sunday services, every week at 9.45am, are not included here.
Tuesday 6th January: Epiphany, the revelation of the Christ child to the wise men, runs until 27th January.
Monday 2nd February: Presentation of Christ in the Temple.
Wednesday 18th February Ash Wednesday (the day before Lent begins) when we mark ourselves with the sign of the cross in ash. It prepare us for our Lenten journey until Easter.
Wednesday 25th March: Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
PALM SUNDAY, 29th MARCH, 9.45am The start of Holy Week.
MAUNDY THURSDAY, 2nd APRIL, 7pm A said service for the institution of the Last Supper – Holy Communion.
GOOD FRIDAY, 3rd APRIL, 9am A said service to mark Christ’s crucifixion that led to his resurrection and victory over death and sin, celebrated on Easter Sunday.
Saturday 30th March: Holy Saturday and Easter eve.
EASTER DAY SUNDAY 5th APRIL, 9.45am We celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
Thursday 14th May: Ascension Day, when the risen Jesus returns to the Father in Heaven. (There is a large 17th-century painting of the Ascension in the north aisle.)
WHITSUN SUNDAY, 24th MAY, 9.45am Whitsun (or Pentecost) marks the coming of the Holy Ghost.
TRINITY SUNDAY, 31st MAY, 9.45am We celebrate the Trinity of God – Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Then begins the long season of Trinity and Ordinary Time in the church’s year.
ST THOMAS’ PATRONAL FESTIVAL, SUNDAY 5th JULY, 9.45am We celebrate this day as our own saint’s day, our Patronal Festival.
Sunday 1st November, 9.45am: All Saints Day. We remember all those men and women in history who by their holy lives have revealed something of God’s glory.
Saturday 31st October: All Souls Day. We remember with thanks all those who have helped us on our journey of faith by their example and their lives.
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY, 8th NOVEMBER, 9.45am The national service of remembrance of all those who have served and sacrificed.
END OF TRINITY, SUNDAY 22nd NOVEMBER, 9.45am Trinity season finishes, the last Sunday before Advent.
ADVENT BEGINS, SUNDAY 29th NOVEMBER, 9.45am The season when, out of the darkness, God’s redeeming light shines. It brings the promise of the coming Messiah Christ child to be born to Mary at Christmas. Advent Sunday is also the start of a new church year.
CHRISTMAS EVE, Thursday 24th DECEMBER
CHRISTMAS DAY, Friday 25th DECEMBER
See our What’s On page for more information. See also the Church of England’s full Calendar with Principal Feasts and other Principal Holy Days, and Festivals.
Orthodox worship
We are delighted that the congregation of the Orthodox Parish of the Nativity of Christ also meet and worship in our church. It is not connected with the Russian Orthodox Church. Their parish is part of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, belonging to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church. To find out about their services visit the Orthodox Church website.
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer
Read why the prayer book we use brings us so close to God