St Michael and All Angels Lancing
Thornberry Middle School children's visit to the church
On Wednesday 10 October 2007, Fr Barry Carter welcomed two groups of children from Thornberry County Middle School to St Michael's Church. They had come as part of their studies about the community.
The font
As the children came into the church, we looked first at the font. It is where people are baptized (or 'christened'). The font is usually put near the door of a church to remind people of their baptism as they come in. It was through their baptism that they became members of the Church, the Community of Faith. In some churches you can use some of the water from the font to make the sign of the cross on yourself as you come in.
Here is a picture of some of the children working near the font later during the visit:
You can see a picture of a grown-up being baptized in our font on the Baptisms page.
Statues
We moved a bit further into the church and looked at the statues. One was of St Michael the Archangel. The story about St Michael in the Bible is in the Book of Revelation, chapter 12, verses 7 to 9:
There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
The other statue was of the Blessed Virgin Mary carrying Jesus in her arms. In front of the statue was a place where people could say a prayer and light a candle. Many people like to light a candle because it is an action that they can offer as a prayer. Sometimes it is difficult to put into words what we want to say. Then it is good just to light a candle and perhaps think about someone we want to pray for. When other people come into the church and see the candles burning, it reminds them that it is a place of prayer - and perhaps they will want to say a prayer too.
The main body of the church
People come to the church for different occasions and events. First of all, there are services that mark important times in peoples lives:
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A baptism
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A wedding
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A funeral
Then there are services that mark special times of the year:
- Christmas services (such as the Thornberry School Carol Service)
- Easter services
- Harvest Thanksgiving
- Remembrance Sunday service
But there are services going in at the church all the time. The special day for Christians to worship is Sunday. Sunday is the day when everyone tries their best to come to church. But there are services during the week as well. Some people who come to church on Sunday also like to come for a weekday service as well. You can find out what services are being held at St Michael's this week here.
The Eucharist
The main service that we have regularly at St Michael's is the Eucharist. This service is also known as 'Holy Communion', 'The Mass' and 'The Lord's Supper'. As in a football match, there are two halves to the service. The first part is when we listen to the Bible being read. On most Sundays, there are three readings from the Bible, including a reading from one of the Gospels. There is a sermon, in which the priest explains the meaning of the readings and says something about how to apply them to our lives. As well as the readings and the sermon, there are hymns, worship songs and prayers.
The first half of the Eucharist is called the Ministry of the Word. It takes place at the ambo, which is like a lectern that is used for the sermon as well.
The second half is called the Ministry of the Sacrament. This time it is not the words that we hear that are so important as the things we do. This part of the service is all actions. The actions take place at the 
altar. What we do is what Jesus told his disciples to do at the Last Supper, on the night before he died on the cross:
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11.23b-26)
Bread and wine are brought to the altar. The bread is put on a silver plate called a paten and the wine is poured into a silver cup called a chalice. There is a thanksgiving prayer, the bread is broken and people come to receive some of the consecrated bread and wine. Christians believe that, when they remember Jesus in this way, he is present with them and gives them the gift of himself in the bread and wine.
Question time
The children asked some questions, which Father Barry tried to answer. There was not time to answer all the questions because the children had to do some work in the church before going back to the school. The children can send a message with any remaining questions to Father Barry from here. If your question is about the history of the church, you may find the answer on the History page.
Here are some photos of children working in the church:
Just before it was time to go, some children had their photo taken with Father Barry:
Thanks to the parents of the children for allowing these photographs to be used on St Michael's website.
Here are some more photographs of things that the children looked at in the church:
Vestments: special clothes that the priest wears at the Eucharist
- White (or gold) expresses joy and purity. It is worn at festivals of Jesus (Easter, Christmas, etc.) and on the feast days of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of saints who were not martyrs (killed for being Christians).
- Purple expresses sadness. It is worn during Lent (when we are remembering to say sorry for the wrong things we have said and done) and also during Advent and for funerals.
- Red represents either fire (for the Holy Spirit) or blood. It is worn on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Pentecost Sunday, as well as on the feast days of martyrs.
- Green reminds us of the created world. It is worn when none of the other colours is being used.
Carving of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the River Jordan
St Michael's Church organ
Stained glass window showing St Clement and St Valentine
Stained glass window showing King Charles I and Archbishop Laud
One of the lovely carved angels at the entrance to the chancel
Fr Barry Carter writes:
It is always a real pleasure having Thornberry children to visit St Michael's. They behave in a very natural, friendly way and are clearly keen to find out things and to learn. They are courteous and pay careful attention. Their general good behaviour is exemplary.
Office Address:
St Michael’s Vicarage
117 Penhill Road
Lancing
West Sussex
BN15 8HD