The spirituality of All Saints’ is ever changing and developing as we grow in the love, understanding and service of God. It is not something set in stone: rather, it is something that grows out of our common journey involving many people with different backgrounds and approaches.
That said, our spirituality can broadly be considered under the following headings:
Sacramental
Since its founding, All Saints’ has existed within the sacramental ‘catholic’ tradition of the Church of England. This tradition believes that material things are of importance as gateways to the spiritual. A sacrament is ‘an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace’. We believe that everything that is ‘outward and visible’ has an inner and spiritual meaning. This is true for the bread and wine of the Holy Communion, for the water of Baptism. It is true of Scripture, and for each and every one of us.
The Spiritual Life is about discerning and working with these hidden elements of our life. There is more to life than meets the eye!
Liturgical
The word liturgy refers to disciplined, structured worship. However, this doesn’t mean that our worship is very formal and starchy. Our main Sunday Mass (Holy Communion) is colourful and rich in symbol and ritual. We seek to worship God with all our senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, as well as movement. The inner meanings of life may be revealed in various ways.
Worship and prayer change us. It is in contemplating God through a discipline of regular and structured worship and private prayer that we grow and our lives are deepened in the knowledge and love of the Divine.
Thoughtful
God is always beyond our understanding and our knowledge of God always incomplete yet we have been given enquiring hearts and minds. Through our searching we get to know God better. The Church of England, along with other Anglicans, has always valued three main areas of enquiry:
Scripture
The Tradition, practices and experiences of Christians through history
The reflections of Christians of our time, in the context of the world as we find it.
We seek to discern God through our personal and corporate reflections on these things. There are no questions that can’t be asked!
Transformative
We expect our faith to make a difference, not only in our lives but in the life of our society and world. We are called to be ‘transformed people’, in turn working alongside others of good will in the transformation of society; working for a world where the integrity of God’s creation is upheld.
Hospitable
We are blessed with well appointed, multi-purpose facilities at All Saints’ and are always seeking ways to ensure our buildings are welcoming and a good resource for the wider community. All Saints’ is also a place where those who are gifted in practical ways find expression for them and use them in the service of others. For some, this is their most natural way to connect with God.