Of course the life of the community is more than just its ‘official’ gatherings, nevertheless here are the ways we gather ‘publicly’ with an explanation of each…
Sundays
We gather at 5pm on Sunday (once a cycle we have the meditative gathering at the later time of 8pm) for our Eucharist (or Holy Communion). Our Sunday gatherings focus on a cycle theme (click here for information about the current cycle). Each gathering in a cycle is a little different. There’s a meditative gathering, a guest speaker, a discussion based service, an ‘open-source’ service (where people bring contributions), a children’s service, and another service with a speaker from within the Home community.
Expect some prayers, chants, songs (sometimes played live, sometimes using various pieces of electronica), readings, and other creative rituals. We always have communion at each gathering.
The Sunday gathering lasts around an hour and a quarter.
Midweek
There are two different types of midweek gatherings – huddles and hub.
HUDDLES : These are small groups that gather on the first and/or third Wednesday of the month (i.e. some gather once a month – on either the first or third Wednesday – some gather twice a month on BOTH the first and third Wednesday). Huddles have a variety of foci – social, prayer, study, arts etc. Some will be for a short, fixed term, only e.g. to study a book, others will be longer term. To see what is currently on offer take a look at the Huddle Directory.
HUB : On the second and fourth Wednesday of the month (unless there is a community meal (see below) which happens on the fourth Wednesday every other month) there is a midweek gathering called ‘Hub’. This is an opportunity to go deeper into the current cycle theme with some teaching and practice relating to the theme. The Hub sessions are led or facilitated by Matt.
Monthly : Community Meals
Once a month we gather together to share food and talk. One month this will be in the evening (and without children), the next month we will get together for Sunday lunch (with the children). These are important times to be together and also to talk about important community matters (we tend to do this at the evening meals rather than Sunday lunchtime). A good way into getting more involved in the Home community is to come along to the meals. Don’t wait to be asked! The meals are open to any who would like to come.
Additionally….
Every now and then we also have ‘special’ gatherings, usually at important times during the annual cycle of the church year – Christmas, Holy Week & Easter, Harvest etc.