About our services

About our services

The general pattern and style of services in the Parish includes many different styles of service and hopefully, everyone can find something that suits them.

Holy Communion Services

The Parish Communion services form the mainstay of the regular pattern. On the second and fourth Sundays, this follows Common Worship service and includes a sermon and both traditional and modern hymns, lead by our choir fine organ.

On the third Sunday of every month, we have a Family Communion Service, which is shorter than the standard Parish Communion and makes use of more modern prayers and liturgy to appeal to younger families. The whole service is presented in a service booklet to make it easy for people to follow. The music is provided by our Music Group rather than by the organ and the hymns are well-known and modern.

Every Sunday we also have a said service of Holy Communion at 8 o’clock, which follows the traditional service pattern and includes some additional material and a short sermon.

The needs of those who are unable to attend Church due to age and/or infirmity, are met by the regular monthly Communion services held at our two sheltered housing schemes, Ash Grove and Ness Court and both are well attended by elderly residents. In addition, home communion taken to the housebound by a team of lay people licensed to do so by the Bishop.

Other Regular Services

On the first Sunday of each month we have an informal Family Service, which is planned and led by teams of lay people, with a different group leading each service. This gives a wide range of styles and provides an opportunity for many members of the congregation to contribute. The services are informal and geared towards youngsters, while hopeful also appealing to older members of the congregation

In addition to the regular Sunday morning services, we hold a monthly evening service, Sunday @7, in Reach church. This is an informal service of songs, readings and prayers, with a talk, usually by a guest speaker. The smaller, more intimate atmosphere of St Etheldreda’s Church, Reach is well suited to this type of service.

Every Wednesday evening we hold WOW! (Worship on Wednesday), a café-style worship based on the philosophies of the Archbishop’s Fresh Expressions initiative.

One of our most successful services at St Mary’s is the monthly Toddlers Service. It is held on the first Thursday of every month and lasts about half and hour, followed by refreshments and a craft activity. As well as the monthly service there are annual events like the Teddy Bears’ picnic.

Special Services

One of the annual events organised by Churches Together is the Easter Sunrise Service on Castle Mound, the remains of a mediaeval on the outskirts of the village near the Church. This service attracts around 40-50 people from all denominations and is followed by breakfast in the Guildhall. The enthusiastically sung hymns as the sun comes up are a witness to the whole village.

Another special event is the annual Songs of Praise held on Reach Village Green on the eve of its famous May Fair at the Spring Bank Holiday weekend.
Junior Church meets every Sunday, except when there is a Family Service, and caters for children from 3-11. Though stories, songs and craft activities, they begin to learn about the Christian faith. For several years now, some of the older children have been admitted to Holy Communion and it has been a great joy to see how seriously they take this important step and to view the excellent work they produce as part of their preparation course. As well as the regular Sunday classes, Junior Church organises special events, like the Good Friday workshop, where children take part in various activities in preparation for the All Age Service later in the day. The Christingle Service in early December, the Nativity play and Jesus Birthday Party, held on Christmas Eve, are both popular services, which attract many children from the village in addition to those who attend Junior Church regularly. The older children, from 11 –18, attend the Pathfinders Group, which meets every Sunday in the Vicarage. They continue to develop their faith through discussion and Bible Study and many of them progress to Confirmation.