First Time?

The Sunday morning service is for all ages at 10am. We are an inclusive church and everyone is welcome to come along and worship. If you have children, they are welcome too. People sometimes worry that their children will make noise and be disruptive but don’t worry, our vicar makes lots of noise and is disruptive too! Just come along and join in.

It can seem a little daunting to go to a church service if you haven’t been before. The most important thing to remember when you come to Holy Nativity is to relax and not worry about our strange customs, just make yourself at home. Hopefully this page will give some idea of what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Welcome

Holy Nativity is a friendly community and do our best to recognise and welcome all first-time visitors, but if we don’t manage as well as we’d like, say ‘hi’ to someone over a coffee at the end of the service. In a small community church it can be hard to stay anonymous but if you are looking for space to be on your own we will try to respect that. Perhaps at the end of the service you will take the opportunity to introduce yourself once you’ve (hopefully) discovered that we are a reasonable bunch of people after all.

Here are some things you probably want to know, especially if you are not a regular church-goer:

Structure

The services follow a traditional pattern and structure but they are quite informal. We usually follow the pattern of a Church of England communion service where bread and wine are shared. Revd Robb and Revd Yvonne  (the priests) usually wear robes during services.

All services use modern language so don’t expect to find Thees or Thous. All words are usually projected onto a screen. Words in white are for the leader and words for everyone are in yellow. You may find some of them familiar such as The Lord’s Prayer, and some of them less so. It may come naturally to you or it may not. Don’t worry if you find yourself just listening to the congregation or praying inside your head, no one will be judging you.  All of the words for songs, hymns or carols are also on the screen.

You will be invited to stand or sit at various points in the service. If you are unable to do this easily, don’t worry.

Communion

Communion is where Christians share bread and wine in the way that Jesus did with his disciples nearly 2000 years ago. This is usually towards the end of the service. At Holy Nativity, the bread and wine will be shared at the front standing up. People who have been baptised (christened) come forward and put their hands out. Usually people reply “amen” as they are given the bread and wine. Some people prefer to have non alcoholic wine. That is usually available in the smaller cup.  Gluten free bread is available on request.  You can either speak to someone before the service or mention it to the person giving the bread out when you go forward.

If you don’t feel comfortable taking bread and wine, you can still come forward for a blessing. If you leave your hands by your side the priest will pray for God’s blessing to be with you. They usually places their hand on people’s head or shoulder when they do this.

If you feel most comfortable staying in your seat this is also fine.

Everything Changes – Christmas, Easter and…. Lots of other times

We follow the pattern of the church year so there are lots of times for celebration or preparation. This will often come with a change of colour to the furnishings in the church and different things happening during services. It isn’t just Christmas Day or Easter Sunday when this happens so if you happen to come into a festival, anything can happen. Take it as it comes.  You will have as much clue about what is going on as anyone else in the congregation!

Financial Giving

Giving is a big part of what it means to build our Christian community and serve the people of North Halifax through community action.  Holy Nativity manages to have a big impact through social action using very limited resources. This is only possible because the people who worship at Holy Nativity care so much about Mixenden and Illingworth that they generously give to this work. It would be fantastic if you are able to give to the work here. You can do this as a one off at the back of church with cash or contactless giving. Many give directly from their bank via parish giving so a lot of people won’t be giving on the day. No-one will notice or would judge you if you don’t contribute.

Music

Music at Holy Nativity uses a wide variety of different styles varying from traditional hymns to more modern worship songs. Usually our music is led on guitar with a small group of singers. Occasionally we may have different kinds of accompaniment from a variety of styles.  We have recently grown musically with some of our teenagers playing once a month.

The congregation has a wide range of musical ability—so if you can’t sing or don’t know the tune, you won’t be the only one!

Sermons

The bible is at the heart of our faith and exploring it together is a big focus of our worship. Sermons are all age and will often use TV and film, music and photographs as illustrations and there may be other activities.  It isn’t unusual for members of the congregation to ask questions. Our preachers often encourage it!

Children

There are lots of children who regularly worship at Holy Nativity. They are often involved in the church services and we don’t have a Sunday School.  Children’s Church is at left hand side of the church where parents, grandparents and carers can engage with the worship together with their children. There are lots of resources!

There are booklets for using with your children.  You can pick them up at the back of church!

Children make noise and ask questions. That’s ok – so does the vicar!

Disabled facilities

God’s love is an open offer to everyone. Holy Nativity makes every effort to be accessible to everyone. There is good access for wheelchair users and disabled toilet facilities. The congregation is open to all and often has worshippers with special needs including learning difficulties and autism. Everyone is welcome at Holy Nativity. If you have any questions or require support during your visit, please just ask.

Most things that Holy Nativity does are done by volunteers. Sometimes we get it wrong. If you think we have failed to be as inclusive as we can be, please talk to us so that we can be better in the future.

Most importantly, we would love to see you!

Revd Robb

(the noisy vicar)