Not really been to church or don’t know what to expect at church? You are not alone, many people are not familiar with ‘church’, but don’t let that put you off coming to Twynham, it is a special place to be.
We are very friendly and we welcome anyone who wants to informally explore the idea of Christianity and church.
There is no pressure to take part, you can sit wherever you like, you don’t need to wear smart clothes, you don’t need to place any money in the collection and you don’t need to stay for the whole time if you can’t or don’t want to.
Worried about noisy and restless children?
Some people worry about their children being noisy in church.
We love children to have children in the church, we have special children’s work in the church (Twynham Kids) where they go off to do exciting games, crafts and even have breakfast together, so you don’t have to worry about them. You can also take babies and toddlers to crèche. Teenagers have another group for them where they share breakfast and find out more about a relationship with God together.
So why do we meet up on a Sunday?
A church service is when the followers of Jesus gather together in a larger group to: hear amazing stories, ‘worship’, encourage each other, meet with God and be a family together. Services can last between 1 hour and 1½ hours or so.
The church service involves a number of different elements.
We ‘worship’ God together
Worship is the intimate connection that we have with God as Christians, often that is expressed through singing hymns or songs or praying (talking with God), but most of all it involves being in a place where we can focus our thoughts hearts and lives on the God who loves us. Sometimes we have communion (in some churches known as the Lord’s supper, Eucharist or Mass) where we share bread and wine and remember Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
We listen to testimony or the children hear a story
Testimony is the personal stories we share about what is going on in our lives and how God is helping us today. Other times we will have a thought or story for the children. At other times we might have news about the work of churches in other countries.
We have a ‘sermon’
A sermon is a presentation that unpacks a thought or a passage from the Bible to help us understand who God is, what he does and how to live in a relationship with Him and one another in the world today. No-one knows it all, but each time we meet we like to understand a little bit more.
We can have a time of ‘ministry’
Ministry is when we ask God to meet with us personally. Sometimes people ask for prayer from others, sometimes we just take time to consider what has been said and what God might be saying to us at this moment. Often there will be more worship during this time. There is no need to take part in this if it feels intimidating.
Family Time
A really important part of church is an opportunity to meet and chat together about, life, family, our struggles and joys. We do all this over coffee/tea, biscuits and sometimes cake! A time to encourage, laugh together and get to know each other. This time usually happens at the end of the service.
Come along and have a look you will always be welcome.
We don’t just meet together on a Sunday of course, we also have Connect Groups, the Friendship Group and courses like Alpha that run regularly to introduce people to the Christian faith and those committed to the church meet in other ways too.