Sunday Services
Sundays @ 8am BCP Communion
The Book of Common Prayer (BCP; also known as the Prayer Book) is the traditional service book of the Church of England. Compiled in the sixteenth century by Thomas Cranmer, and modified in 1662, the Prayer Book remains at the heart of traditional Anglican worship.
It has been familiar to generations of men and women for their regular Sunday worship and to make holy the principal events of their lives, the births, the marriages and the deaths. It has been, and continues to be, loved for its wonderful language, dignified and memorable but always speaking to our human condition.
Phrases from it have come into everyday use and have been quoted in literature. ‘Till death us do part’, ‘read, mark, learn and inwardly digest’, ‘peace in our time’.
After the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer is the most frequently cited book in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, and is one of the guiding influences on our language and has been the basis of religious expression for generations.
At St Lawrence and All Saints we continue to use the BCP for our 8am Sunday Holy Communion services. These are occasions for quiet reflection and calm – a wonderful opportunity to meet with Almighty God at the beginning of the day and find peace and restoration within our busy lives.
Sundays @ 10am
These are our main Sunday services. We use contemporary language, usually from Common Worship.
Throughout the month, the services have different flavours depending on the particular Sunday.
On the 1st Sunday of the month…
…we have our ‘First of the Month’ Informal Family Communion @ All Saints’ Church, Little Bookham.
This service is especially aimed at the young and the ‘young-at-heart’ and lasts about 50 minutes.
We ask children and young people to play a part in leading the service; for example by helping with the Communion, reading the prayers, helping gather the collection and by taking part in the interactive Children’s talk. We sing a mixture of traditional hymns and more contemporary Worship Songs.
This is a service where young and older members worship together.
On the 2nd & 3rd Sundays of the month…
…we have a Holy Communion service using Common Worship language.
During these services, the children meet together elsewhere either at Saints Alive (for Primary-aged children) or Diddy Disciples (for pre-school children). Towards the end of the service, the children join us for communion. The singing is led by our robed choir
On the 4th Sunday of the month, at St Lawrence in Effingham…
…we offer T.G.I.S. (Thank God It’s Sunday) We describe this as “Church – but not as you know it!” (Somewhere, and Something, different for Sunday mornings). The service begins with a delicious buffet-style breakfast, (we don’t charge but gratefully receive donations towards costs).
Then it’s a time to relax with friends, a time to discuss topics that matter, a time to sing contemporary songs or listen to contemporary music, a time to do something as a family, a time to consider the Christian faith without formality, or prior knowledge necessary.
And this is helped by puppets and drama, discussion and reflection opportunities, music bands and children’s activities.
Once a month at 6pm at St Lawrence…
…we have a Taize Prayer Service. The Taizé community in France is a place of reconciliation. People from all denominations live, work and pray together. Differences are observed, acknowledged and used to build bridges of understanding. People travel to Taizé from many different countries and so the chants used in prayer are translated into many languages. The chants are sung many times over and this leads to a deepening contemplative silence.
The Taizé prayer is open to all – this is an ecumenical space for people from different denominations to gather together in prayer. The chants, the psalm and the bible reading enfold a time for silent prayer at the heart of the service.
If there is a fifth Sunday…
If there is a 5th Sunday in the month, we are joined by members of Effingham Methodist Church for an Ecumenical Communion Service drawing on both Methodist and Anglican traditions.