From Our Welcome Leaflet...

We are happy to have you visiting St. Andrew's today. Your first visit to a new church can be a confusing and sometimes frustrating experience. This leaflet tells you some of the things about St. Andrew's that you are probably asking yourself. If there is anything that you would like to know that we have not included please ask the Rector, one of the ushers, or one of the greeters. We hope that you enjoy your visit today and look forward to seeing you again.

The service

Feel free to sit anywhere in the main body of the church. The only reserved pews are those used by the choir, underneath the organ pipes. If you sit near the front you will be able to see and hear better and are less likely to be disturbed by small children.
The order of the service is given in the leaflet that you received from an usher. The page numbers refer to the Prayer Book. You can find this in the rack in front of you. It is the smaller of the two books and is usually red (there are a few blue copies). Hymns can be found in the Hymnal, which is the larger, blue book. Service music is printed in the leaflet.

We celebrate the Eucharist at 10.30am every Sunday. There is a Eucharist at 8am every Sunday without music. Every baptized Christian is invited to partake of the communion. If you wish to then please join the queue on your side of the central aisle. When you reach the front, kneel or stand at the rail. After receiving you may leave through the side doors and return to your seat via one of the side aisles. Feel free to join in with the hymn singing during communion.

Every church has different conventions about when to sit, stand, or kneel. Ours are as follows. We stand during all hymns except for those during communion when we sit or kneel. We sit for all scripture readings except for the Eucharist Gospel reading when we stand. During the prayers we either kneel or stand depending on which feels most appropriate. We stand during the creed. We sit during the collection of the offerings and stand when they are presented. In the Eucharist service we continue standing until after the "Holy, holy, holy" when we either stand or kneel as we choose. If you get confused then just follow the people around you !

Children

We are happy to see children attending the church service with their parents. We have a staffed nursery for small children and Sunday School and Childrens' Chapel for older children. Sunday School starts at 10:15 am. Children enter the service during Peace so that they can go up to communion with their parents. To get to the Sunday school go out of the church through the passageway to the church hall. Turn left, walk across the width of the church hall and out the door. Take the stairs down and the Sunday school rooms are in front of you. See the map for details.

Geography

The St. Andrew's buildings are quite extensive. The church hall building is connected to the church at one corner of the west end by a covered passageway. The coffee and fellowship hour is held in the church hall immediately following the service. There are restrooms at one end of the church hall and also off the passageway leading out the church hall towards the Rectors' Lounge. The church office is on the right as you leave the church hall for the Rectors' Lounge.

Membership

We would be very pleased to have you join us as a new member of St. Andrew's. If you are interested in joining our parish family, please call or stop by the Parish Office for additional information.