Parade Service

The service starts at 10.45 a.m. and is led by the minister, a visiting minister or a lay preacher. Lay preachers are members of the Methodist Church, who have been called by God and have been trained for the work.

A creche facility is available. If you require this service please speak to a member of the Welcome Team. If you prefer to you can keep your child with you in church. Toy bags are available and can be obtained from a member of the Welcome Team.

Children who are not members of a uniformed organisation come into church before the service starts and sit with their families.

Before the service members of the uniformed organisations meet in Room 2 to choose the flag bearers and escorts for the day. Just before the service the rest of the uniformed organisations parade into church. At the start of the service music is played and the flag bearers and escorts parade into church, carrying the flags of their units. They proceed to the front of church, where the minister/lay preacher and the Leadership Team representative take the flags and place them at the front of church.

There is a welcome from a member of the Leadership Team. Musical instruments are provided for the children, who are encouraged to play them. During the service hymns are sung, passages from the bible are read, prayers are said, a sermon is preached and a freewill offering is collected for the work of God.

At the end of the service the flags are collected from the front by the flag bearers and escorts. The flags are then taken out of church followed by the rest of the uniformed organisations. There is then a short period of quiet before the rest of the church family go out of church.

The service usually finishes between 11.45 and 12.00. Coffee and tea are served in Room 2 after the service to which everyone is invited.