Beginners

Trinity Church – A Beginner’s Guide to Discovering Christianity

Want to find out about being a Christian? Or want to go to Church? Out of practice? Concerned about what to do when you’re there? – This guide gives you some of the answers.

Why Church?

A lot of people feel like there’s something missing from their lives. You work hard, you try hard, but do you have enough peace, enough happiness, enough meaning in your everyday life? You may work to get a dream house, a big car, expensive clothes, but do you remember the phrase, "You can’t take it with you when you die"? If working so hard for these things is the only important thing in your life, why are you so tired and so stressed? Is this really all there is? Do you spend your free time trying the latest diet, the latest fitness regime, in the hope that you might live another year, another two years, or that you might look another year younger? How long are you going to win that battle? A healthy lifestyle is important to all of us, but is it really disguising a fear of death, a fear of being less than perfect?

Wouldn’t it be easier to be with people who like you for what you are, not what you have or what clothes you wear?

Wouldn’t it be easier to find away of living that let you really enjoy what you have, and the people around you, without feeling like you have to compete with every living soul from the time you wake up until the time you fall asleep, exhausted?

Wouldn’t it be easier to have the real opportunity to live forever?

Being with God, and talking to God, gives people the chance to really make something of their lives, and to really make a difference to the lives of others around them – sometimes in small ways, sometimes in life-changing ways. Countless people living today, and countless people before them, find a peace and a meaning to their lives through the words of Jesus and through living their lives in the way that God wants. It is a way of life that puts everything back into perspective. It’s a way of living that lets you live.

So, what’s Christianity all about, anyway?

Well, that can be a long story. (See the Bible for full details!) We believe that God sent us his only Son, Jesus, to teach us the rules for how to behave on Earth, and teach us how to be able to join God, Jesus and their followers in all of the joys and peace of Heaven after we die. If we believe and follow God’s word, we are guaranteed a life that need never end, and love that endures forever, no matter how we used to live our life, and no matter what we did before we believed.

Many people have heard of the Ten Commandments that God gave us. Basically, they are as follows:

There is only one God. Do not worship any other "god".
Do not make images or pictures or statues of other false "gods" or worship these images.
Do not use God’s name for evil purposes. This also means no swearing using His name or that of our Lord Jesus.
Only work six days a week. Keep the other day holy, and rest. This means no shopping or teleworking on Sundays unless it is a life or death situation.
Respect your parents.
Do not murder anyone.
Do not commit adultery with anyone. Once you are married, you must stay faithful to that person and work out your differences sensibly.
Do not steal.
Do not tell lies about other people or the things they have done.
Do not desire anything that someone else has – not their partner, or their house, or any of their possessions. The "keeping up with the Joneses" syndrome that we live by in this country has no meaning in heaven.

Jesus was asked what was the most important commandment. He replied,

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second most important commandment is this: Love your neighbour as you love yourself." If you love someone, you want to help them and you do not mind that they are not perfect. It also means that you have to treat everyone, and this means everyone, well. Even if you do not like them. Even if they are different from you. Even if they are rivals to your firm/club/family. Even if they are a different race, a different religion, look different, speak differently, act differently. Even if they are rude to you, or actively dislike you. In a Christian life, you get huge satisfaction from treating them much better than they treat you, and from having manners even when they don’t. To use a modern way of thinking about this, each time you do, you are gaining extra "points" for yourself, and extra "penalties" for them. However, the name of the game is to get as many points for you and for them as possible, so you’re not allowed to gloat!

Jesus also taught us that no-one is perfect except God himself, and that God will forgive us for getting things wrong if we are truly sorry and if we choose to follow Him. In return, He expects us to forgive others who make mistakes if they are truly sorry too.

For many of us, God’s love and his support have been everything we need to make it through the darkest hours of our lives. Christians believe that we are here to help all those who need our help, to pray for all those who need our prayers, and to teach all those who need to learn of God’s presence and His love. We are told by Jesus not to discriminate between people who are "good" and those who are "evil", nor between those who are from different nationalities or religions, or between those of different colours, nor between men, women and children. All are important in God’s eyes, and all are able to be saved by His love for us.

Why Church?

The easiest way to learn about Christianity is to read everything you can, especially the Bible, and to go to Church to meet people who can help you understand why they love Christianity so much, and what it will do for you. The big obstacle, however, getting yourself into the Church in the first place. Lots of things may go through your mind: "Will it be too formal? Will it be too informal? Will I get something wrong and make a berk of myself?" or, "I can’t sing a note – are people going to laugh?" or, "Supposing it’s one of those services where you have to wave your hands in the air and hug all the people sitting around you. Would I cope?" At Trinity we try to make Christianity as easy as we can.

What sort of a Church is Trinity?

It’s a friendly, relaxed Church with a large number of people who come to its services and meetings from all over the East Reading/ Wokingham area. At Trinity Church there are three main groups of people – Church of England ("Anglican"), Methodist, and United Reformed Church. All are Christian, but have slightly different ways of running a Church and of expressing their love for God and Jesus. We are an "Ecumenical" Church – that means that we believe that God and Jesus want us to be part of one Christian family, not divided into totally separate groups that never talk to each other and try to poach each other’s Church members. We have found ways of ironing out our differences, of running Church services that cater for a wide variety of opinions as to how things should be done. Members of other churches in the area often join with us in "United" services, where we worship God alongside those from the Salvation Army, the Baptist Churches, the Evangelical Churches such as Kings Church, and any and all others. We don’t mind whether you are not a Christian yet, or what sort of Christian you are: if you want to be a part of our services, you’re more than welcome to join us.

What’s the best way to find out about Trinity Church?

A good place to start is the 10.00 a.m. "Family Service" which usually takes place on the second, fourth and fifth Sundays of each month. Do check on the notice board outside the Church steps that tells you exactly which service is which, or check in the monthly newsletter. You can also give one of the ministers a ring for a quick chat. They are ordinary people with ordinary young families). Alpha is also a good way.

What will happen if I turn up for the Family Service?

Arrive at about 9.45am to 10am. As you go in, take a leaflet from the people handing them out. This will tell you the basics of what will happen during the Church service.

Find an empty seat. It will be pretty clear which seats are meant for the musicians or the choir, because they will already be in them! The rest of the seating is on a "first-come, first seated" basis.

Under the chairs in front of you are some books. These will include a hymn book or two and a copy of the Bible. You may not have both of these, but people are very good at sharing their copy if someone next to them doesn’t have one.

Do whatever the rest of the audience (more correctly, I suppose, known as the "congregation"), do! As you go through the church service, the Minister or the leader will say which hymn book and which hymn they want you to find. It is also written in the leaflet you were given, and the numbers of the hymns are on the wall boards at the front of the Church. Usually the first thing they ask you to do is to sing a hymn whilst people are still settling down into their places and they are waiting for the Minister or Leader to get ready. You don’t stand up to sing this one (unless everyone else does!). If you don’t want to sing, or you don’t know the song, just don’t sing! No-one minds.

Continue to do whatever the rest of the congregation do. You’ll probably find there are verses that the Minister will read out, and then all of the congregation will be expected to say the next verse. Often this will be on the leaflet you were given. Sometimes they put it onto the overhead projector. Watch what the others do, and learn for next time - it doesn’t matter if you don’t know what’s supposed to happen the first few times. No-one else does either! Generally the rest of the hymns are sung standing up.

One thing you will probably be expected to know is The Lord’s Prayer – the most famous Christian prayer, and the prayer that Jesus asked his followers to say:

After about 20 minutes they collect money for the Church. Some of this money goes to Charities, and some is used to pay for the Church and its activities. You will see people putting money into a bag with handles on it. Watch in which direction the bag is being sent. When it reaches you, you may put some money into it (the idea is to do this in such a way that no-one sees how much you put in. There isn’t a correct amount. It could be as little as 10p or as much as £20 or more – it depends how rich or how generous you are. The Church always recommends giving 10% of your income to charities, but very few people give 10% of their income solely to the Church). 5% is an average. When you have put your money in, pass it to the next person.

Soon after this, the children leave to go to "Sunday School" – an activity session in which they learn about the Christian religion and play games, etc. The stewards near the exits will tell you which groups your children can go to (if you have any!), and where they are. Some groups are in buildings around the Church. The very young children (below 3 years old) and babies can go to the Creche through the doors at the front of the Church. If they don’t want to go, they don’t have to, but they may find the rest of the Service quite long and not as interesting. No-one will mind if they make a bit of noise, and we do have a few that escape during the service, but parents are normally very good about bringing them back quickly. If children get lively during the service, you can also go with them to the entrance where you came in, where there are toys for them to play with, and where you can still see and hear the service.

The service will continue until 11am or thereabouts. There will be some more hymns, some readings from the Bible, some news about what’s happening in the Church and its community, and a lecture or "Sermon" which will teach us about life as a Christian. At the end of the service, everyone stands, and the Minister goes to the exit. People then sit quietly for a short time to pray to God or to reflect on what was said.

You then get up to read what is on the noticeboards at the back of the Church by the exit, or go to the Church Hall (which is through the right-hand door at the front of the Church). Here you can have a cup of tea or coffee and some biscuits, and a chance to meet people. Look out for the "welcomers" – they will be wearing badges. If time is short, you may instead choose to leave by the main exit . As you leave, you get the opportunity to shake hands with the Minister. If you are new to the Church, they will probably ask a few friendly questions about you.

Common questions:

I’m not even Christian – won’t people object to me being in the Service?

In a word, no. Everyone is welcome to join in our services.

I haven’t been in a Church since I was baptised as a baby! Won’t people know that I’m not a Christian if I get things wrong?

No, they won’t. For a start there are always lots of people at the Service, so no-one will be taking notice of any one person. Also, at Trinity we do something different every week, so no-one knows everything!

I don’t have a family – does that mean I can’t come to the family service?

No, you don’t need to bring a whole family to the family service. Many people come by themselves or with other adults.

Is it going to be cold and draughty?

No, it’s modern, warm and centrally heated.

Are there toilets?

Yes, modern, clean loos and disabled facilities near the main entrance and in the hallways at the back of the Church. Yes, you can leave the service to use these if you need to. People often do.

What about easy disabled access?

Yes – the building is designed to be accessible to all. If you need any assistance, our stewards are more than willing to help.

Is someone going to "collar" me and get me to do some strange initiation ceremony?

No, they won’t! There are no "strange" initiation ceremonies! If you want to be more of a part of the Church, just speak to one of the Ministers after the service, or phone them for a chat. (See the numbers at the end). There’s no "hard sell", and no pressure on anyone to do more than they want to do. A good place to start is probably an Alpha course – a number of evening or daytime sessions that talk about life as a Christian. There is information on this in the entrance hall.

Do we have to shake hands with each other? Kiss each other? Hug each other? Throw our arms in the air? Shake tambourines? Fall on the floor? Speak in "tongues"?

Not in the Family services. We understand that people are not always keen to be kissed and hugged by complete strangers, not even Christian ones.

You shake hands with the Vicar at the end, and we do run Communion services in which you do shake hands with other people round you and say "Peace be with you" to them, but that’s as much as you get in the way of physical contact with others at Trinity.

Holy Communion Services – what are they? Is it where you have to go to the front of the Church to get given some bread and wine, and only full Church members are allowed? Do I have to sit in my seat whilst everyone else goes to receive it?

As well as family services, there are also Holy Communion services held at Trinity each Sunday and some other days. The policy at Trinity is that all who love Jesus may receive Holy Communion.

In the Communion Service, Christians eat bread and drink wine as a sign of their love for Jesus and God. It is a very ancient tradition, and for many Christians a very important one. There are two sorts of Holy Communion service at Trinity, because of the slightly different styles of Christianity that Trinity caters for. Which sort you get depends on a simple rota system.

1. "Rail"

Everyone who wants communion is guided to the front, one row at a time, where they kneel at the rail on the cushions, and the Minister and their team bring you bread and wine.

You hold your hands out and they put a small piece of bread into them. Eat it! Some say a small prayer as they do so. (If you dont want to receive the full communion, you can bow your head at this point and receive a blessing instead - many younger children do this too)

You decide whether you want a sip of alcoholic wine (in the big cup) or a sip of non-alcoholic wine (in the little glasses). If you do not want whatever of these choices they are offering, just keep your head down until the one you do want comes along. There is no choice of vintage! If you decide on the big cup (Chalice), then only take a sip out of it. They wipe the cup between people, so you wont catch any germs. If you take a little glass, drink the lot and put the glass in one of the holes in the rail in front of you.

Stay there quietly for a short while, (perhaps offering a short prayer) and then get up and return to your seat.

If you cant physically get to the rail, then don't worry - if you let the steward know then the minister and team will bring the bread and wine to you in your seat.

"Non-rail"

Instead of going to the front to get your bread and wine, you stay in your seat and they bring it to you. The Minister will tell you when you eat the bread and when you drink the wine, so the key is to wait until everyone does it, and not to consume it the minute you take it! There is a hole in the seat in front of you for the empty glass.

If you’re not certain that you do love Jesus (yet!), then it’s best to sit quietly in your seat whilst communion happens. You can, if you prefer, just ask the Minister for a "blessing" rather than take the bread and wine that is offered to you. The Ministers will give instructions on this at the time.

This page was last amended on 29 April, 2008 . Please comment via the visitor's book with any comments you have about this page