Ministry to Nursing Homes and Retirement Villages

One of the ongoing joys of ministry is reaching out to those who can’t join us for worship. As people age many different things affect our mobility and our capacity to participate in weekly worship. But as a community we are keen that the elderly and disabled do not feel forgotten. We have regular monthly worship in three nursing homes and three retirement villages. Other individuals receive communion in their homes or in hospital as required.

Our worship is usually a simpler than the normal Sunday worship. Our message is always one of encouragement and comfort. People still love to sing some of the old favourite hymns. We usually make time for a cup of tea and a chat which in many ways is just as important as the time for worship. Shared stories give us a deeper appreciation of the blessing people have been to the wider community throughout their life.

For many participating in worship has been a part of their life for 70 or 80 years. It gives people great joy to continue this practice. Others have fallen out of the habit of regular worship due to ill health or other issues and monthly worship in the nursing home or retirement village helps to rejuvenate their faith.

Even though our worship is very traditional Anglican we are always open to people from other traditions to joins us. The beauty of old age is that we can see more clearly the pettiness of many old divisions.

We are always keen to develop the little teams of people that go to the Nursing Homes. If you can sing well or play an instrument or have a heart for the elderly or disabled then we would love you to join one of our teams.