Just as individuals in a family aren’t identical, churches aren’t all the same. We have different personalities, interests and ways of doing things, and although we share the same core beliefs, we express them in different ways and have different emphases. Every congregation has its own traditions, cultures, jargon, foibles, strengths and, yes, weaknesses. But, one thing we share is that we are family. Despite our differences, we share a common bond in Jesus: we’re brothers and sisters and this diversity is a strength.
At Wormley Free Church, we see this family bond as significant. Relationships between us within the church and with other churches are important, and we work hard at them. We want to learn from others, nurture and support each other, and know that there is much we can do better together than apart. For example:
- We’re active participants in our local Churches Together group in Hoddesdon, Broxbourne and Wormley. A great demonstration of this is the foodbank – our church is the main distribution point, but we have volunteers from a number of local congregations.
- We meet for regular activities with Rosedale Community Church, our nearest Connexion church (the network we belong to). These have included Good Friday and Christmas Eve services, barn dances and picnics.
- We take weekly school assemblies at Wormley Primary School and Broxbourne CE Primary School with St. Augustine’s, Broxbourne & St. Laurence, Wormley, along with twice monthly services at Broxbourne Nursing Home.
On the 3rd March we went to St. Laurence, Wormley, to join them for our first joint service together. We’re looking forward to welcoming them to us on the 9th June at 9.30am for another (note the time is not our usual 10.30am, this is to allow their priest-in-charge to join us before heading to St. Augustine’s to take a service there). We know that our service will differ from their usual worship, and pray that they will be encouraged and learn from it, as we were and did from theirs.
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