REGULAR SERVICE TIMES

  • Sunday Eucharist 8.00 am (Followed by morning tea on the 1st Sunday in the month)
  • Family Service 9.45 am (Followed by morning tea every Sunday)
  • Prayer and Anointing with Holy Oil is available in the Martyrs’ Chapel following both the 8.00 am and 9.45 am services on a Sunday.
  • Wednesday Eucharist 10.00 am (First Wednesday of each month)
  • Evensong 5.00pm third Sunday of the Month followed by refreshments
  • Reconciliation by appointment

If you are a Parishioner and would like to join in on our 9.45am Sunday Service via Zoom please refer to the Parish Weekly Email which is emailed to you.  If you are not a Parishioner please contact us via the ‘Contact Us’ area of our website.

SPIRITUALITY GROUP

Spirituality Group – a Chance to Learn and Share!

This is a group for those wanting to explore their spirituality in an open and deeper way.

The Spirituality Group meets approximately monthly and our goal is to open ourselves to discovering new ways of understanding and interacting with the Holy Spirit in its many forms. Over the past few months, we’ve been really enjoying exploring some of the chapters of the book entitled: “Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us” by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. The book is organised thematically, and each individual chapter treats with a particular topic of interest that has bearing on our lives. For example, over the past few months, the topics we have looked at include: “Hospitality”, “Truth-telling”, “Celebration”, and “Self-Care”. In each case, there is biblical scripture associated with the topic, some text by the author reflecting on the nature of the idea (based on her own experiences as a Christian operating in the modern world), and then there are a series of questions offered for reflection. At our meetings, we light a candle, centre ourselves to the present moment, then read the text and go gently through the questions, discussing the ideas from our own perspectives and experiences.

So far, I have found our meetings extremely life-giving in many ways. Sometimes the topic ends up being tied serendipitously with something highly relevant that we had not really anticipated. For example, the topic of “Hospitality” landed in the same week as the Rugby World Cup final, when virtually the whole country shared a sense of welcoming the world to our shores!Another aspect of our Spirituality Group meetings is to look at the “Course in Miracles”, which is available as a book and also on-line. This is a course which lasts for 365 days, and entails reading and communing with just a short slice of spiritually-focused text on each day. I have been doing this course, but rather slowly, as I sometimes miss a day or two. This doesn’t matter, however, and one can always just do each day, in sequence, as and when one is ready to do it. For me, this has meant that the 365 days will be spread over quite a lot more than one year, but that’s ok! Today I got up to number 249! It has been a revelation to experience this course alongside our weekly worship services at St Andrews.

I honestly don’t know how God does it, but the dynamic combination of these two things working together, at least within my heart and I confess that being involved in this Course in Miracles and the Spirituality Group has really transformed my life, and all in an extremely positive way. As a consequence of these activities, I have now developed my own meditative devotional time, including scripture readings that I feel drawn to, which I do just alongside breakfast each morning, and which I truly cherish. It has been exciting to feel God working on the inside, and it seems that there are no bounds to the creativity and generosity of the Holy Spirit, through a variety of paths, in addition to our enjoyable weekly worship services at St Andrews – all one has to do is start listening and it soon encompasses all aspects of life in a new kind of love, truth and joy! Needless to say, I am very grateful to Stephen for starting up this group!

Stephen and I warmly invite you to join us for Spirituality Group!

COURSE IN MIRACLES

A Course in Miracles comprises three books, the Text, the Workbook for Students, and the Manual for Teachers.  It is a path to universal love, peace, and the remembrance of God, through forgiveness.  It uses the language of traditional Christianity, but is non-sectarian and non-denominational.  The focus is the healing of relationships, and it begins:

“Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.”

The Course reminds us that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent Love, and that although the opposite of love is fear, what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.  It defines the miracle as the shift in perception from fear to love.

In the Workbook we are taken through 365 daily lessons that are to be practised throughout each day.  In these lessons we are reminded of the false conditioning we have acquired since early childhood, and we are taught how to undo this in order to know ourselves as sinless sons of God.  It uses, and teaches us to use, reason and truth as the tools for this process, [which, additionally, makes it a brilliant course in critical thinking].

In our classes, we follow the Course in a completely practical way as it requests, and apply the lessons to the significant events of our daily lives.  By doing so, we gradually undo our misperceptions , our “negative self-images”, and experience the Holy Spirit working within us.  Thus we feel more love, more trust, and more peace.

Meeting Times:
Our Course in Miracles Group meets on the third Wednesday of each month, 7.30pm at the Vicarage and is open to anyone to join.

‘Foundation for Inner Peace’: acim.org

‘A Course in Miracles’: courseinmiracles.com

BIBLE STUDY GROUPS

Have you ever thought about meeting up with others in an informal and low-key atmosphere to study a passage of scripture and to discover what others are thinking? We are have a bi-weekly evening bible study group and a day time bible study group, which aim to encourage participation in a relaxed manner. Most importantly, we welcome anyone with questions, doubts, or who simply would like to contribute or listen! So if you are interested, please dust off your bibles and come along!

For further information please contact the Parish Office

MEDITATION GROUP

Our Meditation Group meets monthly. It is a group for people who would like to experience meditation within a group and with the support of a group. If you haven’t meditated before and would like to give it a try don’t worry as no previous experience of meditation is required to attend. Just come along with an open mind and give it a try. It is recommended that you bring a pillow/cushion with you.