Regular Worship Services

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Question 1. What is the chief end of man?

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever

Westminster Catechism

At the heart of any Christian community is its call by God to worship — for our benefit, not His! Because when we worship the true and Living God, we are truly ourselves and we are truly fulfilling what we were made for. As the answer to the first question in the Westminster Catechism says, our chief aim is to glorify God, but in doing so we bring joy and fulfilment to ourselves.

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Jesus replied: ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’

Matthew 22.37-40

As the chief end of humanity is to worship God, so we enter into a loving relationship with God, but the fulfilment does not end there. As each of us enters in to relationship with God, then God encourages us to enter into a loving relationship with each other modelled on our loving relationship with Him. This is what Jesus is explaining for us in Matthew 22.37-40, first know how to love God fully, and then will know how to fully love everyone else. In other words, our model for love itself is derived from God himself and our relationship with Him — fulfil these two loves, love of God, love of others, and you will not need any other rules or guides.

In the Benefice of Coniston and the Crake Valley we seek to fulfil both of these sets of guiding words through our regular worship. That is to meet together regularly to worship God as we should and to love one another through fellowship in our services and Small Groups as we should. Naturally, it is good to have a breadth of services as we do Small Groups, and our regular worship consists of the following:

Holy Communion		Services of Holy Communion using the more modern wording are held throughout the benefice in each of the five churches, St. Andrew's, Coniston, Holy Trinity, Colton, St. Luke's, Lowick and St. Mary's, Penny Bridge.. Please consult the calendar to find out where and when Holy Communion services are being held.

Prayer & Praise		This is a short midweek service to give the opportunity to worship and intercede in prayer. The service is held most Wednesdays at St. Andrew's, Coniston at 12.00pm. Please consult the calendar to find out where and when Holy Communion services are being held.

Morning Worship		A service of Morning Worship is held regularly within in the benefice. The service is a Service of the Word, focussing on the Bible and preaching, and uses contemporary wording. Please consult the calendar to find out where and when Morning Worship services are being held.

Healing Service		A Healing Service is held once a quarter in St. Andrew's, Coniston and St. Mary's, Penny Bridge. The service is a Service of the Word, but also gives the opportunity for self-examination and to come forward to receive prayer for healing. Please consult the calendar to find out where and when Healing Services are being held.