New to the Church? Here’s how to to take your first steps.
“So God created humans in his image,
in the image of God he created them”
We are a diverse, welcoming community. We believe that the Church – the people who God has called to follow Jesus – is instituted by God. If you are beginning to feel drawn to walk through the doors of the church, and take your place within, that is wonderful!
There’s no one right way to be a Christian. To join the Church is to walk a lifelong journey, learning something of who God is, and of who you are – and who God made you to be.
Christians set out upon that journey together.
Your first step might be to come to worship. Or perhaps you’d like to have a coffee or a cup of tea with our priest, Fr Grahame, and get a sense of the place. Or pop along to the Op Shop, or Friday morning teas. There’s a contact form on this page that you use to get in touch.
Coming to worship for the first time
It’s a big thing to take those first steps into the Church. You might feel excited at the prospect – you might also feel nervous! What if you stand up at the wrong time, or sit down at the wrong time?
Let’s start by easing that concern: everyone at our church trips over in worship every now and again – Fr Grahame will occasionally do that literally! So be without fear: you won’t be judged if you’re coming along for the first time, and don’t quite know how everything goes.
We welcome children and families – and children don’t need to be buttoned up and prim and proper. If you have a toddler who likes to roam, or a baby who cries, you’re not disrupting the service: at Church, we bring everything that it is to be human to God. We remember that God took on what it is to be human. Jesus of Nazareth was born of Mary, fully human and fully divine.
There are two churches in the parish, with slightly different approaches to worship. The regular 8am Sunday service at St Swithun’s is a ‘low Mass’ – everything is said, with little or no singing, and some times of shared silence. Some of us respond to that, finding something of God in that gentle togetherness.
At St Barnabas at 9.30am each Sunday you’ll find a more exuberant, contemporary form of worship. We sing hymns with gusto, led by our musician and singing group. Again, there’s no one right way to be the church – some of us find something of God in raising our voices in praise, and that’s a wonderful thing.
Beginning to read the Bible?
The Bible is a huge book – in fact, the word Bible really means “library.” The Bible contains dozens of books, written by different authors at different moments in history, over a span of centuries. People exploring the Christian faith often wonder where to get started!
A good beginning is to read the Gospel of Saint Mark. Reading it, you’ll hear the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Mark’s Gospel was the first to be written, and it reads almost like a news bulletin: it’s short, punctuated with the word “immediately” as it tells the Good News of Jesus with a kind of breathless, urgent joy. We recommend the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition, as an approachable translation that draws upon the latest scholarly understandings of the Bible.
Starting out reading the Bible, you’ll doubtless find both joy and challenge, or even confusion. It’s important to remember that almost all of the Bible is not written as a set of rules or laws – it’s great literature, inspired by God, a rich tapestry of text and challenge. We bring ourselves to the Bible, and wrestle with how we are to respond to God’s Word.
If you do find challenge, or joy, or have questions, get in touch, and Fr Grahame will be more than happy to sit down with you, listen, and have a chat.
Get in touch
If you’ve any questions, or if you’d like to arrange for someone to sit alongside you and gently help you to engage with worship, fill in the form below and we’ll get back to you soon.
