Gathering together to worship God is at the heart of our community.  We have regular Sunday services.  The early service (8.00am) is a quiet and simple New Zealand Prayer Book/He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa service, with no hymns, which is usually about half an hour. The 9.00am service is also a New Zealand Prayer Book/ He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa communion service, with organ music, hymns and songs. It lasts around an hour, followed by a cuppa in the hall.  Gluten free wafers are available on request (please ask the priest or greeters at the beginning of the service or at the Peace).

On 2^nd and 4^th Sundays we have our Family Service starting at 10.30am. This is a time for relaxed and informal fun, oriented towards children. The Family Service includes singing, teaching and stories about God and Jesus, and varied activities. All ages are warmly welcome.

Special mention should be made of our Christian Meditation group. Christian Meditation, an ancient form of contemplative prayer, is deeply anchored in the teachings of the Early Christian Desert Fathers and Mothers of the 4th and 5th centuries. It echoes the spirit of the psalmist’s words: Be still and know that I am God. The present-day global spread of meditation in the Christian tradition expresses a universal human need for stillness and presence in a world ruled by a pace of change not previously experienced in human history. Prayer today, often dominated by our intellect, can lose its connection with the heart. Meditation in the Christian tradition reconnects us with the heart, the spirit within, and opens us to its transforming influence in our lives. It is a way of simplicity, silence and stillness. It can be practiced by anyone who is merely serious about beginning.  Soon we learn that we are always beginners. This discovery transforms many interconnected attitudes such as our fear of failure, our craving for success and our reluctance to simply be ourselves.

The Kerikeri Christian Meditation Group meets weekly at St James Anglican Church on Wednesdays at 5:15pm. All are welcome. Please leave a message at the Church Office (09 407 1486) if you wish to know more.

We also offer a number of special seasonal services. St James is blessed to have several excellent musicians, and we have an occasional choir for Easter, Christmas Lessons and Carols, and our Patronal Festival in July. We also offer extra services for Lent and Holy Week – check out the home page to see what’s coming up.