19 May 2026

Words are never enough to sustain a relationship. What happens when words fail as they inevitably do when grief is too deep for words or age destroys the capacity to speak? Our actions have a power of their own to deepen our relationship by speaking not only to the mind but to the heart!

And so it is that words and actions both have an important place in the worship of God. Walking to church on a Sunday has much more significance than  getting from A to B. It is a public declaration of our faith in God. It’s only through public worship that the church is made visible to the community!

The physical building is in itself a silent witness to the undying love of God and the eternal realities. Standing up for the Little Entry confirms our respect for the Word of God and its authority over our lives. Clasping hands and closing eyes atunes mind and heart to listen to the Spirit of God in prayer.

Over the past decades, it has become clear that worshippers need the Word or the words we use in worship to be enlivened by pictures and actions, signs and symbols. Couples will often ask to say their own vows in the marriage ceremony. Mourners will throw a handful of earth or a red rose into the newly dug grave.

Travel to different cultures and opportunity to worship in churches of different denominations have given people the chance to experience different traditions and encouraged them to incorporate them into their own patterns of worship. Like our hymnary, signs and symbols, customs and traditions have an agreeable ecumenical dimension to them.