Worship at All Saints


How do we worship?


The centre of our worship is the Sunday Eucharist, God’s great gift to us.

Here we offer our prayers and praises to God, and receive from him the grace we need to live as Christian people.

Here we renew our friendship with one another, and welcome all who come.

Here we affirm the faith that we have received from the past, as enshrined in the Creeds agreed by the Councils of the early Church.

A booklet setting out the fundamentals of the Christian faith, as received and followed in the Church of England, is also available in church.

Why is the main service called “The Eucharist”?


On the night before he died Jesus consecrated bread and wine to be what he called “My Body” and “My Blood” and gave them to his disciples to eat and drink. The central act of Christian worship has always included a remembrance of this act where his followers receive the same gifts.

Over the centuries this service has been called by different names:

The most ancient name is “The Eucharist”. The Church grew up in a world where the common language was Greek and this was the word they used to describe what they were doing. It means “Thanksgiving”.

Thanksgiving is the theme through the various stages of the service whether we are singing or praying or listening or taking communion.

The central prayer begins with a dialogue called the “Sursum Corda” meaning “Lift up your hearts”. It is called “The Great Thanksgiving” because we praise God for his wonderful works, and ask the Holy Spirit to make of our gifts of bread and wine what Christ gave to his disciples.

Why do we have services every day?


A church is a place for prayer, set apart for silence and for offering praise to God. A church building may justly be used for many purposes and gatherings, but unless prayer is the activity that most marks its existence day by day it will fail in its essential purpose.

Because there is daily worship here, people know that prayers are being offered for their needs, and the needs of those closest to them, and that encourages many to continue praying themselves. The prayers that are offered by individuals thus have a focus, a centre.

Many find the quiet and calm of weekday worship a valuable supplement and deepening of the joyful Sunday celebration.

Sometimes people need to come in the week because they cannot worship on a Sunday, either because they are away one weekend, or because work or physical restrictions makes Sunday attendance very difficult.

On occasions someone may have a very special need to come and pray on a particular day; it might be an anniversary, or a problem that needs to be offered to God, or a special day of thanksgiving.

The normal times of services can be found on the Services page.

Why do we sing some of the words of the Service?


We sing a variety of songs of praise and faith in our service, but there are four hymns which have been part of Christian worship since the earliest times and which are often sung in the Eucharist today. They are so well known that they still go by their original Latin or Greek titles:

The word “Gloria” means “Glory be”.
This joyful hymn begins by quoting the words sung by the angels at Christ’s birth (Luke 2:14) and goes on to proclaim our faith in the Holy Trinity, the one God who has revealed himself to us as the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It was originally sung in Greek.

The words “Kyrie Eleison ” means “Lord, have mercy”.
This is still sometimes sung in Greek. It asks the Triune God to have mercy on us and is used as an alternative to the Gloria in Lent or Advent, or as part of our preparation for celebrating the Eucharist at other times.

The word “Sanctus” means “Holy”.
The words are based on the vision of God received by the Old Testament prophet Isaiah (see Isaiah 6) and the greeting made to Jesus when he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Mark 11: 9). This is sung during the Great Eucharistic Thanksgiving Prayer.

The words “Agnus Dei” mean “Lamb of God”.
This title for Jesus is drawn from the witness to Jesus by John the Baptist as recorded in John’s Gospel (1: 29), and are also found in the last book of the Bible “The Revelation” (see chapter 6). They are sung just before we make our communion.

Why does a Priest wear Vestments at the Eucharist?


It is normal at a Eucharist for the priest to wear distinctive clothes the origins of which go back to the first centuries of Christianity.

The alb is the long white garment which may also be worn by others such as singers.

The stole, the coloured strip of material worn like a scarf, has become the most distinctive symbol of those ordained to ministry. A priest or a bishop wears it hanging loosely but a person made a deacon wears the stole diagonally across the chest.

The chasuble is the sleeveless outer garment, slipped over the head, hanging down from the shoulders covering the alb and stole of the priest.

The stole and chasuble are coloured Green on most days of the year but this may be varied for particular seasons of the year. White or Gold is worn during Christmas and Easter times and some saints days. Purple is worn during Lent and Advent, (Rose can be worn on Mothering Sunday and on the third Sunday of Advent). Red is used to celebrate Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit, or for feast days of martyrs and apostles.

These garments add splendour to our celebration and remind us that the Church’s life today grows out of its life in the past, its long history stretching back two thousand years. They symbolise our unity with Christians down the ages.

Above all the vestments make clear to the priest and others that he stands before people not as a private person but as a symbolic sign of Christ who calls us together and leads our worship.

Why do we stand for the reading of the Gospel?


The word “Gospel” literally means “Good News” and it is the word used to describe each of the four accounts of Jesus’ life that we find at the beginning of the New Testament. These are books arising from the life of the church in the first fifty years after Christ’s resurrection.

The Holy Spirit led the earliest Christian communities to write down its memories and understandings of Jesus’ life, and to recognise in these particular books four different, but equally authentic, ways of witnessing to Him.

The Holy Spirit enables those who read and hear these Gospels to hear the Risen Christ speaking to them now. In the Eucharist we stand to hear the Gospel, in order to acknowledge the supreme importance of this moment in our worship.

Why is there a light shining near the High Altar all the time?


Each week at the Sung Eucharist some consecrated bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Christ, is reserved in a small curtained cupboard above the High Altar, called ‘The Tabernacle’. This is then available if someone needs to receive communion at home.

Its presence there during the week is also a focus of devotion to our Lord who is always here with us in this special way. The light reminds us of this wonderful gift, and many people bow to the place where the sacrament is reserved to acknowledge this.

Why are there so many statues in the Church?


The saints are real people in whose lives on earth the gifts of the Spirit shine particularly brightly. It is the presence and work of the Holy Spirit that enables us to call the Church “Holy”.

The saints also symbolise two other titles of the Church we find in the Creeds: that it is Catholic, which means “Universal” or “For All” and Apostolic which means “Sent” or “Commissioned”.

In the last verses of Matthew’s Gospel Jesus tells those who are witnesses to his resurrection to “make disciples of all nations”. Led by his Holy Spirit the Church spreads through the world into every nation and every culture. Her members witness to Christ in every home and workplace where they live or go because the Gospel is for every type of person.

Our church is dedicated to “All Saints” – the thousands and thousands of such people, some well known and many now forgotten. The statues we have represent a sample of such saints to remind us that when we gather for worship we are supported by their prayers and encouraged by their examples.

Finally we see that we are members of the One Church founded on its One Lord, a community whose boundaries go beyond time.

Why does the Blessed Virgin Mary have a special place in Christianity?


There are three statues of Mary in our church but in each of them she is carrying the child Jesus for us to adore. He is the purpose of her life.

In the Gospels we find Mary being summoned by the angel to a vocation almost unbelievable in its greatness, and she accepts it with humility and gentleness.

Mary’s whole life was lived in closeness to Jesus, as his mother and as his disciple. Excesses of the past had led to Mary’s place in the Christian family sometimes being ignored or even resented. But that should not stop us doing what has been a most natural thing in the history of the church – to love Mary as Jesus did, and rejoice that she is rightly called “our sister and our mother”.

Why do we have an “All Souls’ Chapel”?


This church has a close association with the Guild of All Souls’, a Society founded in the 19th Century to foster the beliefs of the Church centred on the communion of saints, the Resurrection of the dead, and the importance of continuing to pray for our beloved departed.

In this Chapel we keep a book of the names of those we remember each year on the anniversary of their death, and here the Eucharist is offered for them on November 2nd, All Souls Day.

If you wish to add a name to the book please let the Vicar know.

Why do we make the sign of the Cross?


We make the sign of the Cross on ourselves as an outward symbol of Christ, the one who was crucified, and the love he has for each one of us. By doing so we confess our faith, place ourselves under his protection, and call him upon the Holy Spirit to make us Christ-like. Many Christians will thus sign themselves at the start or end of prayer: touching the forehead, the centre of the chest (“the heart”), then the left shoulder and the right shoulder.

In the public celebration of the Eucharist, there are four places where it is now customary to sign ourselves:

At the start the celebrant says “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, that is God’s name as revealed in Jesus. These were the words used at our Baptism, so we all cross ourselves to renew our calling to be his people.

When the Gospel is announced we make the sign of the Cross because Christ is about to speak to us and we wish to receive him in our minds and our hearts.

When we come to the altar to receive communion we cross ourselves because we wish to receive “The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, given for you” and “The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ shed for you” thankfully and prayerfully.

At the end the priest pronounces the blessing and again at the words “the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” we sign ourselves in order to accept this blessing, God’s love for us and his commission to take that love with us into our daily lives.

What is the Sacrament of Reconciliation?


God accepts and forgives us but sometimes we need to hear that said to us personally. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to his priests to pronounce forgiveness and peace to people in this way (John 20:22-23).

In this sacrament a person, in the presence of the priest, tells God the sins for which they are sorry and receives the assurance that they are forgiven. The priest may also offer advice to help a person live a better Christian life. The priest may not divulge to anyone else what is said here in confidence.

Some people use this time of grace regularly, many others only once or very occasionally.

What are the Holy Oils?


The word Christ means “the one anointed (sanctified) by God the Holy Spirit” and Christians have always used oil as a symbol of Christ’s blessing and healing power.

The “Oil of the Sick” is used for anointing those who seek healing and wholeness. We know from the letter of James that the early church anointed sick people believing that it enabled God’s healing power to work more effectively in those who believe.

The “Oil of Chrism” is used at baptism, confirmation, the ordination of priests, and the consecration of altars, to symbolise that those so anointed are chosen and consecrated by Christ for his service.

Why do we use incense and ring bells?


Christianity is the religion of Creation and Incarnation, and sets a high value on our physical natures, so worship is enhanced when it appeals to all our senses.

The large bells summon us to worship and tell out to the world that worship is being offered.

The burning of incense has been a part of Christian worship since the 4th century, appealing to the eye as well as the nose.

The smoke of incense rising into the air symbolises our prayer ascending to God: “Let my prayer rise like incense before you” (Ps 141:2).

The smell of incense is a tangible reminder of the presence of God in worship when “earth and heaven are joined in one”.

After the consecration the consecrated bread and wine is held up. The incense is offered and the small hand bell is rung to help us be more aware of the greatness of the act in which we are participating.

What is a Paschal Candle?


Candles are lit in church either as part of the Service to symbolise Christ, the Light of the World, shining among us, or by individuals as an outward sign of a prayer they offer.

‘Paschal’ is an old English world for Easter. The Paschal candle is a very large white candle, the largest and tallest of all church candles. It is blessed at the Easter Vigil. This is a ceremony that has been used since at least the Fourth Century and is a symbol of the Risen Jesus, the eternal ‘Light from Light’ shining through the darkness of death.

Paschal candles are always inscribed with a cross, the date of the current year, and the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Omega, Α and Ω, thus symbolising that the Lord is present in His world now in the present year and he has always been and always will be, for he is the Beginning and End of all things (see Revelation 1:8).

This candle is lit at all celebrations of the Eucharist throughout the Great Fifty Days of Easter until it is finally placed next to the baptismal font on Pentecost Sunday.

The Paschal candle is lit at baptisms when small candles are lit from it and given to the newly baptised to remind Christians that they are called to “shine as lights in the world”.

The Paschal candle is also lit at funerals as a symbol of our belief that those who die in Christ are raised up with Him into the eternal light of heaven.

Why is this parish “under the care of the Bishop of Richborough”?


When the Synod of the Church of England decided to admit women to the priestly ministry, it also recognised that a substantial minority of members of the Church of England would not fully accept that ministry because it broke with the tradition of the Church.

It therefore instituted a system whereby a parish could ask to be sent only male priests, and also ask to have a Bishop of that tradition who would act as their chief pastor, administering Confirmation, and being involved in the appointment of the incumbent.

The Bishop of Richborough is consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be such a Bishop. He is also an Assistant Bishop of Ely, the Diocese to which St Ives belongs.

The members of this congregation do have varying views over this issue; some rejoice in women being able to be priests, some are prepared to accept their ministry, some are reluctant because they doubt the wisdom of the Church of England acting on its own over such an important issue, others are adamantly opposed.

We all agree, however, that we wish to live in friendship with one another, worshipping and working together harmoniously. The ministry of the Bishop of Richborough enables us to do this.