A special message from Kirkheaton Parish Church

· Perhaps 2009 will be the time you come back to church?

· Perhaps you have not considered that Kirkheaton Parish church could meet your spiritual needs?

We are changing, as from January, and we’d love you to come and see what is happening.

As a Parish church we try to provide for the spiritual needs of the whole community. Starting on 4^th January we will be changing our service patterns to meet a wider range of these needs – perhaps you will find a pattern that helps you. From that Sunday we will be having two main morning services rather than just one.

At 9.30 am we will have a service following the Church of England patterns (Common Worship). This will include a sermon, structured prayers and both traditional and more modern hymns. At 11 am we will have a more informal time, with space for prayer, contemporary music, talks (sometimes with the chance to ask questions afterwards) and time to listen to people’s stories. Between the two there will be coffee and biscuits.

Our children’s groups will start at 11 am. These will also have an exciting new format. For families attending the 9.30 am service there will be colouring sheets and books available, and a place where parents can look after their children while still being part of the congregation.

Our monthly Family Service will move to the 3^rd Sunday, at 11 am.

Our evening services are changing too, and moving slightly earlier,

to 6 pm. They will focus on learning from the Bible and prayer. And, building on our successful ‘Café Church’ format, there will be more opportunity for conversations and questions.

We are retaining our monthly traditional Prayer Book Communion on the 1^st Sunday of each month, at 8 am, and our midweek service on the 2^nd Tuesday at 10.30 am.

We now have groups for Primary age children and younger teenagers on Friday evenings, and for older teenagers on Tuesdays. We have a number of study and prayer groups that meet in people’s homes, both day time and evening, Saturday morning breakfasts, social activities and much more. The church is open for tea and coffee every Thursday afternoon, 2–4 pm.

For more details our Parish Office in the Old School is open for enquiries daily 9.15 – 11.45 am, Monday – Friday, (tel. 531449)