Welcome to St Giles' Church 

We are here to love God and to make Christ known in word and deed. We are an inclusive church and welcome all comers

The Season of Epiphany

Epiphany

In the Western churches, the Epiphany (‘manifestation’) became an occasion to celebrate one element in the story of Christ’s birth, the visit of the far-travelled magi, understood as the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.

Matthew’s account speaks simply of ‘wise men from the east’; later tradition fixed their number at three, made them kings and recalled their resonant names – Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. In this perspective,

Epiphanytide is an apt season to pray for the worldwide mission of the Church. The feast of the Conversion of St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, appropriately falls in the Epiphany season, as does the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The season of joyful celebration that begins at Christmas now continues through the successive Sundays of Epiphany, and the festal cycle ends only with the Feast of the Presentation (Candlemas). The child who has been manifested to the magi at his birth is now recognized by Simeon and Anna, when he comes to be presented in the Temple according to the Law of Israel. He is both ‘a light to lighten the Gentiles’ and ‘the glory of God’s people Israel’.

Text from Common Worship

Ordinary Time between Candlemas and Ash Wednesday

The Church Calendar includes two periods of Ordinary Time: the short time between Candlemas and Ash Wednesday and an extended period after Pentecost.Ordinary time allows for more uninterrupted reading of scripture in sequence, for the exploration of other themes such as creation and the environment, and for creative responses to the Saints' Days that occur at this time.

Text from Common Worship

Join us for the Parish Eucharist

on Sundays at 10.00 

All Welcome