The Metropolitan Congregation

- serving and celebrating the LGBT communities of Manchester and the North West

Sunday Worship

Our main service is held each Sunday at 4.30pm. It is a time when we make space for God in our busy lives and allow ourselves the time to renew our faith, have our spirits lifted, focus on something outside of our own lives and, in doing so, find that we renew our determination to live as committed disciples of the Lord Jesus.

To help us do this we have crafted a gentle form of service which combines resources from a range of different traditions with a mix of contemporary and traditional music - sometimes rousing, sometimes thoughtful, always excellent.

At the start of the service we recognise we all come from different places and try to leave to one side our busy-ness, stress and concerns and focus on God as we pray and sing together and allow ourselves to recognise God's presence amongst us.

As we journey through the service we ask God to forgive us for the times we've failed to love other people, ourselves and God and we believe that God both forgives us and gives us the strength to live better lives.

bible1We listen to a reading from the Bible, recognising this as the source book of our faith and then we listen to a short sermon linking the message of the reading to our own lives. Often we use a video clip to illustrate the idea in the sermon. We sing again and usually try to link the theme of the song to the theme of the sermon.

We then affirm our Christian faith through the use of either a contemporary or traditional statement of faith, and regular attenders are asked to make a gift to the work of God in our church through the collection. We bring to God the needs of our world and our own community through the prayers of intercession.

communion2The heart of our service is the celebration of Holy Communion. This remembers the meal Jesus shared with his disciples on the night he was betrayed. At that meal he shared with Peter who would deny knowing him, Judas who would betray him and with all the male disciples who ran away from him in his hour of need. Yet Jesus shared with them and didn't allow their weaknesses and failings to stop him sharing bread and wine. Similarly, we don't put up any barriers between people and the presence of the Lord in this special meal.

All are welcome to receive Holy Communion - regardless of whether you are a church member or not. You don't need to have been confirmed, been to confession or even been baptised. All we ask is that you are looking for God in your life. Jesus doesn't put up any barriers and neither do we! We use non-alcoholic wine, and gluten-free bread is available so that everyone can be included.

We believe that through this meal Jesus is present with us. To help us reflect and pray we use a video, mixing images and music whilst Holy Communion is being given out and this leads into a longer period of silence where we can pray, listen to God or simply rest in God's holy presence, gaining strength for our shared journey of discipleship.

After a closing prayer, notices and a final blessing, we sing again to conclude our service.

community1Worship normally lasts for just an hour and there is a time after worship to get to know each other. We serve a variety of teas and coffees, cappuccinos and hot chocolate, and we try hard to make newcomers feel welcome if they are able to stay and chat.

Our newsletter gives details of our weekly activities and news, and we produce a prayer diary with a reading and thought for the day for every day between Monday and Saturday - you can receive both of these directly by email - simply sign up for them. You can find out more about us on this site and you may like to join our Facebook group or follow us on Twitter - use the links at the top of the page.

URC Daily Devotions

The URC provides a daily devotion with a short Bible reading, reflection and a prayer.

Today's Devotion

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