Church Life

What would you like to know about?

Click on an icon below to jump to a specific topic

Services

Where We Meet

We meet at 10:30am every Sunday morning at The Business and Enterprise Centre at The Forest School, Horsham, West Sussex. (The BEC is located at the rear of the school). This is where our Life groups come together to worship God, experience His presence and learn from Him and about Him through His Word.

Worship

We begin our service with a time of worship for about 45 minutes. Our different worship leaders lead us through songs, prayers and readings from the Bible.

We encourage people to be free in their worship, whether it is sitting, standing, clapping, raising their hands, dancing or just being still if that is more helpful.

An offering is taken to further the work of the Church. The offering is part of our worship, and only regular members are invited to give.

Once a month we have communion together. Anyone who is a believer is invited to take bread and wine with us.

All Age Services

Every six weeks we have an All Age service where all the family, of all ages, can engage together. Afterwards, we usually have a light lunch and an opportunity to eat together.

Teaching

We believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. Each week we teach from it in different ways for about 30 minutes, and give encouragement for it to be applied in our daily lives. If you don't have a Bible, you can borrow one from the back of the hall.

Prayer

Different people lead us in prayer for our church, our nation, and the world during the service. We also have a prayer ministry team, who are available after the service to pray for any personal needs. They are identifiable by their badges.

Children

Children stay in for the first 20 minutes of the service and then go to their groups.

After the Service

Our services usually finish at 12pm, and we would love you to join us afterwards for a tea or coffee.

Life Groups

The fundamental building blocks of our church are our Life Groups. We believe that God has called us as a church to focus on small groups for the purpose of worship and prayer, experiencing God, caring for one another, ministering to one another and ministering and evangelising to the community. The aim is not to add a good set of house groups to the overall work of the church, but to make small groups fundamental to church life. Each group is made up of 5 to 15 people and are led by members of the congregation, who plan where the group will meet and are responsible for leading the meetings. The Sunday service is not the single most important part of church life; rather it is an opportunity for the Life Groups to join together in worship and receive teaching.

A typical meeting starts with coffee at 8pm and finishes with prayer at around 10pm, however there is an afternoon Group available on a Friday. If you wish to find out some more information about our Life Groups or would like to join one, please contact one of the church leaders on the 'Contact us' page.

Children's & Youth Groups

At Life we seek to provide youngsters with varied groups through which they can have fun learning about Jesus and grow in their relationship with Him. Activities include bible study, games, drama, craft, music, discussion and prayer.

We also aim to nurture the children's own interests and talents and to help them feel a valued part of the church family.

We take the welfare of our youngsters seriously - our leaders are expected to agree to sound principles of childcare and complete necessary Child Protection and CRB procedures.

On a Sunday, children and young people join the rest of the church for worship and then go out to their groups. We have a creche for 3's and under and weekly groups for those up 15

Wild Life Children's and Youth groups

(Ages are approximate depending on the needs of the child concerned).

For more information contact Sarah Farr on 01403 241744.

DOGs also meet for a meal, fun, and discussion every other Friday.

Please contact Sarah Penberthy for more information on 07926 563408.

Prayer Life

God has created mankind so that we naturally hunger for a relationship with Him. He has built that yearning for Himself into our frame; He has encoded eternal longings in our spiritual DNA structure.

Prayer is basically talking with and listening to God, expressing your heart and spending time with Him. It is not a one way activity. God speaks, we listen, we speak and God listens to our hearts. Prayer can be exciting, powerful and fulfilling.

Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

Prayer is communication with a real God. It is our response to Him. Here are some encouraging Bible Verses about Prayer.

Space to Pray

Prayer nurtures our relationship with God, and must precede and accompany all we seek to do for Him as a church, and as individuals. To encourage prayer, we meet in the chapel at Brighton Road Baptist Church, Horsham, the first Saturday of each month between 8:30 and 9:30am, having silent prayer, setting time aside for a while to meet with God, and then pray together for the last 15 minutes. Please check Breakthrough, our weekly newsletter for further details.

Prayer Team

Our Prayer team are available to pray individually with people after our Sunday Services. They are identifiable by their badges. If you would like someone to pray with you, please go to the back of the main hall at the end of the service.

Prayer at 12 after our Sunday Service

This ministry is for anyone who needs physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual healing. If you would like prayer for healing, or any other issue that concerns you, please come to the Business Enterprise Centre at 12 o'clock, after our Sunday Service. We have seen many answered prayers, and we would love to pray with you.

Please contact Julie Shimizu for further information.

Prayer Ministry

Prayer Ministry is about ministering to others through prayer. Please contact our Prayer Co-ordinator, Hilary Smith on 01403 210453 for further information.

Open Doors Prayer Group

On the first Thursday of each month, a small group meet to pray for the persecuted Church, and the work undertaken by Open Doors. Open Doors are a Christian mission organisation who support persecuted Christians around the world, and engaging in the distribution of Bibles, literature, and audio recordings.

Please contact Ethel Auger on 01403 252352 for further information.

Healing on the Streets (HOTS)

On the second Saturday of each month, among the shoppers in The Carfax, Horsham, a small group from various churches in the town, meet between 12:00 and 14:00, to offer to pray for people for healing on the street. Life are part of this initiative, offering a different kind of fulfilment than the stores can offer. We believe God is still healing people today, and we want to be out on the streets to offer to pray for people if they would like us to.

Please contact Julie Shimizu for further information.

24/7 Prayer

We have run 24/7 and 24/5 prayer weeks, which are literally a week's worth of continuous day and night prayer. They have been very special. The latest was during Easter week, 16th - 20th March 2008, which was co-organised with Trafalgar Baptist Church, Horsham. Here are some photographs of the various themes and resources which became an expression of our prayers and praise to God during the week.