The Dwelling Place (monthly worship @ The Pavilion)
The Dwelling Place
Here we have a desire to find a deeper personal worship experience with God, in Spirit and in truth. We believe that God wants to increase the fullness of our spiritual expression by encouraging in us different ways of worshipping Him. This may be new to us and present challenges in the way we currently “do” or understand worship, but this is part of an evolving journey of learning and growing together in Jesus’ words of experiencing ‘life in all its fullness’.
Alongside our personal experience, this is a place where we hear God’s cry for justice in a suffering world. Here we look to bridge the gap between the sacred and the secular, bringing the two elements closer together. As we deepen our own relationship with God through prayer and worship, we find that God calls us to a deeper place of compassion for others – we cannot help but want to serve. God calls us to be worshippers who don’t simply worship upwards, but outwards as well, demonstrating the love of Christ to all.
At the foundation of it all we are reminded that this is God’s thing, not ours. It is God who is calling us to dwell in His presence so we will encounter Him at a deeper level – to experience the vastness of His love, the depths of His grace and His ‘incomparably great power for us who believe’.
Why have we begun a new worship gathering?
From listening to the congregation, we have noticed a growing desire for people to engage with, and deepen their experience of God in worship. Sunday mornings are a wonderful time to meet and worship as a congregation, but we’re aware that people often simply want more time and space to dwell in God’s presence (hence the name!). We hope the Dwelling Place will be an environment where people do have the time and opportunity to engage more fully and intimately with God.
Who is it for?
Anyone! We welcome all those who are looking to meet with God.
When and where do we meet?
The Dwelling Place takes place every second Sunday of the month, 6 – 7.30pm in the Pavilion Café. The remaining dates for 2011 are:
Sunday 9th October
Sunday 13th November
N.B. We will not be meeting in December
What does a typical gathering look like?
We believe there are many different ways of worshipping God so we want to encourage all who come to the Dwelling Place to engage with these. It could be through song, art, sharing faith stories, praying in different liturgical styles, going out into the community and engaging with social projects etc. We aim to draw inspiration from a rich heritage of Christian worship styles as well as leaving lots of space for listening to God.
Every gathering has the potential to be quite different from the next as we begin to deepen our faith through different expressions of worship. Our main purposes, no matter how we worship, are to have opportunities to meet with God; for our faith and love towards Him to be deepened, and to glorify God together.
Why is there a particular emphasis on exploring issues of justice as part of our worship expression?
Our understanding of worship is that it is far more than singing a few songs on a Sunday morning; it is living a life that is pleasing to God. And what pleases God?! Acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly before Him. We hope to deepen our understanding of how we can be worshippers of God in ways that truly please Him.
Who helps to make the Dwelling Place happen?
We are a team of 5 people from the Pavilion Christian Community – Rachel and Simon Bishop, Lydia English, Hannah Northcott and Jon Seadon – each with a desire to see all of the above happen. We meet together to pray and plan the Dwelling Place into being each month.
If you would like any more info, please talk to one of us.