Author Archives: Church Admin

Sunday Worship from 9th May

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We will be re-opening our church building for our 10.30am Sunday Worship from 9th May. Every fortnight thereafter we shall be in church and on Zoom, with the alternate weeks on Zoom only. The dates are below for May and June.


The government rules regarding social distancing, mask wearing etc will all need to be adhered to, just as they were in the few services we have had in the building since the start of the Pandemic.

The leadership team are aware that there are mixed feelings and views about returning to church. Some of you will be raring to get back, others will be more anxious. Please do what is best for you to keep yourself safe and healthy, in mind as well as body. We don’t forsee things being back to ‘normal’ until well after the end of June, maybe even September.

In all this however, there is much hope to be found. Hope from vaccinations and the easing of restrictions, but more than that, the hope that whatever happens, God is with us.

With love,
Judith

May 9th: Church and Zoom
May 16th: Zoom
May23rd: Church and Zoom
May 30th: Zoom
June 6th: Church and Zoom
June 13th: Zoom
June 20th: Church and Zoom
June 27th: Zoom

Residents’ festival 2020

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Central Methodist Church is open for visitors on Saturday 25th January from 11am-4pm. This is officially part of the York Residents’ Festival weekend. The inside of our chapel is usually a wonderful surprise for residents who visit during the festival.

You’ll be very welcome to pop in and have a look around the chapel; some of us will be around to answer any questions you may have.  We hope to have a number of organists playing during the day too, so it’s an opportunity to hear what is generally regarded as one of the best organs in the city.

There’s no need to book in advance and you don’t even have to be a resident. Share the news and invite your friends and family to come and take a look at the inside of our fabulous building and listen to our impressive organ.

There will also be a space for prayer and reflection.

Details of other unusual locations open to visit for free can be found on Visit York’s website: http://www.visityork.org/residents-festival-attractions.aspx

Bread Church

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Baking bread, exploring faith and building community together.

Starts Sunday 2nd June, 10am.

Meeting in the Carecent room at Central Methodist Church

This is a place where all are welcome.

A gathering place where we bake bread together, eat together and have the opportunity to explore the Christian faith together.

A safe space where there is freedom to ask questions and freedom to say nothing. Simply come as you are, join us at the table, bake and then eat bread together.

Sung Communion at Central

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The following article by our Minister appeared in the circuit newsletter, we thought we’d share it here as well:

We have developed over the last few years at Central a style which makes full use of the rubric of the Methodist Worship Book in the Holy Communion Ordinary 2 Service where it says “ musical settings other than those printed may be used” p198 MWB. At Central we often use the David Thorne St Thomas Mass setting for Holy Communion Services with a sung kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus & Benedictus, Acclamation and Agnus Dei. We also often use the items in the “liturgical settings” of Singing the Faith which have a variety of kyries, glorias, prayers settings and other short songs which can easily be used as sung response for prayers.
This style may be unfamiliar to many Methodists. The Book of Offices 1936 made provision for the Gloria “to be sung or said”- note the order of the wording, with sung been cited first as if it was the preferred option. Settings for sung responses to the Commandments were offered in the back of MHB.
Some Methodist Churches sang Morning Prayer each week with sung Benedictus, Te Deum and the appointed psalm and other churches sang the canticles and psalms to chants from the authorized hymn book or from other sources. Technically the Order of Morning Prayer was not part of the Book of Offices but the service was printed with it! This oddity illuminates our inter-twined nature with the Church of England as “mother” where singing such offices was the norm at that time. Using the authorized liturgy and additional material has always been part of the rich mix of Methodist worship.
So why not give it a go sometime? You could try something different at your church which might enrich the worship or you could join us at Central sometime and discover what we do. Methodist worship does not have to be boring or monochrome! It is possible to engage the whole congregation in participation other than speaking. Methodism was born in song after all.
Following on from Stainer’s Crucifixion being sung as part of worship on Palm Sunday we will have a different form of service with musical input led by John Bradbury and some choristers on Sunday 19 June in the evening.
We hope that something a bit different from the five hymn sandwich might be part of what we offer on a quarterly basis.

Christopher Humble