Joining in

Whatever your age, you will find plenty of opportunity to join in with supporting the life of the church, from ringing the bells or creating flower arrangements to helping at the altar or wielding a duster. No special skills are required for any of the activities you could be involved with, just a willing attitude and a good sense of humour! If any of those listed below appeal to you, please contact the Parish Office, who will put you in touch with the right person.

Bell ringing

St John’s bell ringers are a small friendly group, keen to welcome new members. The bells are rung regularly for the weekly Sunday morning service and sometimes for weddings and other occasions. The ringers practise on Wednesday evenings. You don’t need to be an experienced ringer, as training can be given, so please get in touch if you’d like to give it a go.

Church linen

If ‘dashing away with a smoothing iron’  appeals to you, or anything involved with looking after the altar cloths and other fabrics, then your support with keeping them all clean and in good repair will be warmly welcomed.

Church servers

Help is always welcomed to assist with getting the church ready for a communion service, helping during it and then clearing away afterwards. Age is no barrier and training will be given to anyone who is willing to serve

Communion Assistants

Would you like to help to distribute the Host during communion? Do contact us if so. You do need to have been confirmed.

Flower arranging

There are always fresh flowers in the church to delight visitors. The Flower Group is especially busy at Easter, Christmas and Harvest and sometimes provides flowers for weddings too. They would love to hear from you if you have a talent for floral decoration and would like to join the rota.

Holy dusters

Sometimes running the church is just like managing a large family home, including cleaning! Extra pairs of hands are always welcome to help keep the church clean and ready for all who want to use it. We would love to hear from you if you would like to join the rota.

Holy mowers

If you have ever fancied a go on a ride-on mower, this could be the job for   you! All offers of help are warmly welcomed to help keep the churchyard tidy and well maintained and you don’t need to be Alan Tichmarsh to join in!

Lay Pastoral Assistants

LPAs visit people in their own homes, for example to bring communion to those who are unable to get to church. This is a valuable part of our work to housebound people in the community to whom a personal visit can mean much. Please contact us if you would like to be part of this essential work.

Parish Office

Even if you don’t have experience in an office, you are welcome to offer to come and help the team with the administrative work of the parish. There is always plenty to do, from copying and collating to answering the phone and taking messages.

Parochial Church Council

You may want to be involved with running the church and taking responsibility for how the affairs of the church are managed. The PCC members form a number of groups that each work on an aspect of church life and your particular talents may suit one of them. We hold annual elections to the PCC and you are welcome to put your name forward.  You must be on the church’s Electoral Roll, which you can do through the Parish Office.

Please see below for a copy of the application form: (Link to form)

Prayer partners

There are a couple of ways that you can get involved with our work through prayer. Firstly, writing and then leading the prayers for the Sunday morning service; and secondly, working as part of a pair to offer a prayer ministry to share with those who would like to pray for special support for themselves or others. Please get in touch if you feel you would like to offer your gifts in this special service in the life of the church.

Bible readers

Nearly all of the church services feature a reading or two from Scripture and so there is plenty of room for different people to read out loud. Whatever your age or experience, we’d love to hear your voice saying God’s word, so please get in touch if you’d like to join the rota.

Sidesmen

Welcoming people as they come into church is an important part of our services and other activities in the church. We would love to receive offers of help to be a friendly face at the door, hand out books, take the collection and tidy things away afterwards.

Singing

Singing in choirs is an increasingly popular activity. We have a choir of able and competent singers who sing at Sunday services throughout the year, but there’s always room for more. We sing at Sunday morning services and a service of Choral Evensong on the third Sunday of the month. There’s also Tisbury Young Voices for younger singers. If you have a good musical ear, enjoy singing and would like to join a committed team, then we would like to hear from you.

Teas & coffees

It’s good to share fellowship together over a cup of coffee after Sunday       morning services and there is always room for more people to help out with setting up and serving, not forgetting clearing up afterwards!

The Band   

The band plays for the family service held on the first Sunday of the month and consists of strings, woodwind, saxophones, piano, electric bass and drums.  It plays modern worship songs and traditional hymns as well as light music and jazz at the ends of services. The band has played for all-day healing events in Salisbury Cathedral and gives occasional concerts.  All the music is specially arranged to suit the abilities of individual players, so that beginners can join in and play music that is fun but not too difficult.

Vergers

People who come into the church to use it for various events need someone on hand to open up and help them find their way around. This would suit you if you live quite near the church and feel that you can make yourself available.