Let’s be honest, whether you’re a committed Christian looking for a new place to worship, just beginning to explore your faith, or just simply visiting the area, going into a new place of worship can be a little intimidating. As every place of worship is different, this page aims to give you an insight into what you can expect if you come to worship at Collinwood Road URC, so there won’t be any surprises and you can feel prepared and relaxed during your time of worship.
…when you arrive?
First things first, click HERE to find the exact location of the Church. In short, we’re based in Risinghurst on the corner of the London Road (A40) and Collinwood Road. There is plenty of parking at the Church, so if you’re coming by car you’ll be able to park right outside.
We meet for worship at 10am every Sunday and most of our services are held in the Sanctuary (the doors will be wide open). However, on the first Sunday of the month we have All-Age worship in the Church hall. There will be bright neon signs to guide you to the Church hall on this day. When you enter you will be greeted by one of the members of our Church who will welcome you and provide you with everything you’ll need for the service, including a hymn book and a welcome leaflet full of useful information. When you enter the sanctuary or hall feel free to sit wherever you feel comfortable, and if you would like to sit with someone just ask the Church member who welcomed you if they could introduce you to someone.
…during the service?
Most of our services follow a similar order and will begin with the worship leader and an Elder entering with the Bible (people will stand as the Bible enters). Notices will then be given to let us know of any news or upcoming events. Following this we get into the heart of our worship which will usually include:
- Singing hymns accompanied by either the organ or music group with guitar and keyboard – most people will stand for hymns but feel free to do whatever you’re comfortable with
- Bible readings – if you would like a Bible to follow along, just ask the Church member who welcomed you if they can provide you with a Bible
- Prayers – we usually have prayers to show our love for God, to say sorry, to say thank you, and to think of other people and situations that are important to us
- Sermon – this is just a fancy word for the talk given by the worship leader
- Offering of money – this is the way that Church members support the Church, however, there is no obligation for anyone to give money so please feel free to just pass on the plate when it is given to you
- Communion – (where we eat bread and drink wine) only takes place on the second Sunday of each month, and everyone is welcome to take part. The worship leader will guide you through the communion but be aware that there may be some responses for the congregation which will printed for you in advance.
We don’t currently have a Minister so the service will be run by either a visiting Minister or a member/s of the congregation. Although this is the general format of the service, don’t be surprised if you also see musical performances, people sharing their testimony, times for discussion (where you can happily just listen) or arts and crafts. Occasionally the congregation will be asked to say aloud certain prayers or responses. These will either be shared by the worship leader on the screen or found in your welcome leaflet.
…for the children?
We always have children attending our worship, so we aim to make sure they can engage with worship as easily as the adults. If we are holding worship in the sanctuary, then the children/young people will be given a Rainbow Club (our children and youth group) bag on arrival which is full of goodies for them to explore, including arts & crafts, activity sheets and books. During the service we encourage our worship leaders to use means such as story-telling, visual-aids and prayers or songs with actions, so that people of all ages can participate in worship. If we are meeting in the Church hall for our All-Age worship, the children/young people will have lots of fun activities to enjoy throughout the service, as we explore our faith in a relaxed, informal and fun setting.
If you’re coming with young children, please don’t feel worried or embarrassed if they’re walking around or making noise, we love having them with us and we all know how difficult it can be to sit still for an hour!
…at the end of the service
Our worship usually runs for an hour and will end with a rousing hymn and a spoken blessing from the worship leader. Following this, if you’re new to the Church, it is likely that some of our regular members will come and introduce themselves and invite you along for a tea or coffee in our Community Coffee Lounge. We fully appreciate that you may have plans and will not be at all offended if you want to head straight off after the service. However, if you would like to come, you will be shown the way and offered a drink and sweet treat (these are all free). This a great opportunity to meet new people and find out more about the Church.
If you’ve enjoyed the worship and met some nice people you may wish to share your contact details with us so we can keep you updated about up-coming services and events. Alternatively you can check our website or follow us on Facebook for regular updates.
Still feeling unsure?
If you’re still feeling unsure about whether or not you’d like to come along to a service why not drop us an email using the details on our contact page. We can help answer any specific questions you have, give you more reading material, recommend another Church, or even arrange for someone from our Church to meet up with you for a coffee and a chat.
Setting aside time to pray can also help calm our nerves or help us make decisions. If you’ve never prayed before, why not try simply sitting in a comfortable place, maybe with some relaxing music, putting your hands out and saying “God, what do you want for me?”. Pay attention to any thoughts or ideas that come into your head.
I’ve been to the worship, what next?
So you’ve been along to our worship a few times and you’re enjoying it and developing your faith and relationship with God…but what should you do next? Here’s a few ideas to get you started but feel free to talk to one of the Elder’s at Collinwood Road URC to think and pray about what might be right for you!
- Talk to an elder about becoming a Church member
- Join the all-age worship planning committee and start to get involved in leading worship
- Volunteer at one of our community events
- Volunteer at one of our children and youth events
- Ask a friend at Church to regularly pray or read the bible together
- Join our Church bible study group