Regular public and corporate worship should be a springboard to develop an inner spiritual life that sustains us individually and helps us to grow in our love of God. Opportunities for the community to celebrate events or to come to terms with loss through special acts of worship are one of the ways we help the wider community to share in the activity of worship. Schools, voluntary associations and those involved in public service and corporate enterprise all welcome appropriate opportunities for expressing their life in worship. These are profound opportunities for evangelisation and encouraging deeper discipleship. Many parishes need to strengthen their welcome programmes.
Some parishes lack basic facilities such as good toilet and catering facilities.
Some have not addressed the needs of access for people with a variety of disabilities. All parishes need a clear programme for introducing Common Worship. Occasional Office ministry in baptism, wedding and funeral services involves us in ministry to many thousands of people every year. Most often these involve people knocking on our doors for the first time in years. Accessible and well constructed programmes of preparation for baptism and marriage are essential.