A service of Holy Communion for Pentecost

Welcome to this Windmill United Benefice online service of Holy Communion, led by Rev Nicholas Calver. All the music was recorded at previous services in the benefice.

You may like to have some bread ready to eat at the point when you make your spiritual communion. Nicholas will say a bit more about this in his talk

The hymn ‘Come down, O Love Divine’ is sung

Come down, O Love divine,
Seek thou this soul of mine,
And visit it with thine own ardour glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
And kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn,
Till earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
And let thy glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

Let holy charity
Mine outward vesture be,
And lowliness become mine inner clothing;
True lowliness of heart,
which takes the humbler part,
And o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

And so the yearning strong,
With which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the pow’r of human telling;
Nor can we guess its grace,
till we become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

Greeting and Confession

Alleluia! Christ is risen.

He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

What God has prepared for those who love him,
he has revealed to us through the Spirit;
for the Spirit searches everything.
Therefore, let us in penitence open our hearts to the Lord,
who has prepared good things for those who love him.

The Confession
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
we have sinned against you
and against our neighbour
in thought and word and deed,
through negligence, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault.
We are truly sorry
and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
who died for us, forgive us all that is past
and grant that we may serve you in newness of life

to the glory of your name. Amen.

Almighty God, have mercy upon us,
pardon and deliver us from all our sins,
confirm and strengthen us in all goodness,
and keep us in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.

The Gloria is sung

Glory in the highest to the God of heaven!
Peace to all your people through the earth be given:
Mighty God and Father, thanks and praise we bring,
Singing alleluia to our heavenly king.

Jesus Christ is risen, God the Father’s Son:
Seated now and reigning from your Father’s throne,
Lamb of God the Saviour, all our sin to bear,
Show us now your mercy, now receive our prayer.

Christ the world’s true Saviour, high and holy One,
With the Holy Spirit, you are Lord alone!
Lord and God, we praise you; Highest heaven adores:
In the Father’s glory, all the praise be yours!

The Collect and readings

Collect for the day of Pentecost
God, who as at this time
taught the hearts of your faithful people
by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit:
grant us by the same Spirit
to have a right judgement in all things
and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort;
through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen

A reading from Acts 2: 1-21
by David Spruce

The Gospel reading from John 20: 19-23
by Alex Haynes

Talk
by Rev Nicholas Calver

The Creed, Intercessions and Peace

The Creed
Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he was buried;
he was raised to life on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
afterwards he appeared to his followers,
and to all the apostles:
this we have received,
this we believe.
Amen.

The Intercessions
led by Phyllida Dallman

The Peace
God has made us one in Christ.

He has set his seal upon us and, as a pledge of what is to come, has given the Spirit to dwell in our hearts. Alleluia.

The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

As you make your spiritual communion, you may like to use this prayer, as Nicholas suggested in his talk, and to eat some bread if you would like to:

Be gentle, when you touch bread,
Let it not be uncared for, unwanted.
So often bread is taken for granted.
There is so much beauty in bread,
Beauty of sun and soil,
Beauty of patient toil.
Winds and rain have caressed it,
Christ often blessed it;
Be gentle when you touch bread.

The anthem is ‘Go peaceful in gentleness’
(Words and music by Paul Field b1954)
Sung by the choir of St Mary the Virgin, Horne on 29 September 2019

Go peaceful, in gentleness
through the violence of these days.
Give freely.
Show tenderness in all your ways.

Through darkness, in troubled times
let holiness be your aim.
Seek wisdom.
Let faithfulness burn like a flame.

God speed you! God lead you,
and keep you wrapped around His heart!
May you be known by love.

Be righteous.
Speak truthfully in a world of greed and lies.
Show kindness.
See everyone through heaven’s eyes.

God hold you, enfold you,
and keep you wrapped around His heart.
May you be known by love.

Blessing

May the Spirit,
who set the Church on fire upon the day of Pentecost,
bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ.
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Alleluia! Alleluia!

In the name of Christ.  Alleluia! Alleluia!

The hymn ‘The Spirit lives to set us free’ is sung
Recorded in isolation in their different homes by the Horne Family Service band (Gill and Steve Robinson, Ginette and Peter Nye, Sue Wates and Michael Harvey) and mixed together by Steve Robinson

The Spirit lives to set us free,
walk, walk in the light.
He binds us all in unity,
walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
Walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord

Jesus promised life to all,
walk, walk in the light,
The dead are wakened by His call,
walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
Walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord

He died in pain on Calvary,
walk, walk in the light,
To save the lost like you and me,
walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
Walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord

We know His death was not the end,
walk, walk in the light.
He gave His Spirit to be our friend,
walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
Walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord

By Jesus’ love our wounds are healed,
walk, walk in the light.
The Father’s kindness is revealed
walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
Walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord

The Spirit lives in you and me,
walk, walk in the light.
His light will shine for all to see,
walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
Walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord


Organist: Peter Nye
Hymn words reproduced under CCLI: 845257

Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England (2000), material from which is included in this service, is copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2000