When i was little i had to go to church followed by Sunday School every Sunday and i went to the local Methodist as it was closer to home , and i went to Girls Brigade/Brownies/Guides there .  I always quite enjoyed the peace and a good old sing-song .
I have been considering going to my local C of E but the only time i could go is on a Wednesday morning when they perform the Holy Communion . I have never been confirmed and only recently found out you could be in a C of E church !!!
So my question is , how different to the normal Sunday service is this and is it OK to go and not take Communion ?
Thanks in advance .

>how different to the normal Sunday service is this and is it OK to go and not take Communion ?

I'm not sure how different from the normal Sunday service it would be (each vicar seems to do things differently!) but it's fine to attend but not take Communion. When others go to the altar rail for Communion you can either go up just to be blessed, or remain in your seat. It's not a problem at all. :-)

there's absolutely no problem with you going up to be blessed or staying in your seat as Jeangenie posted.  these days most vicars are just pleased that people turn up to be honest!

If you find that you enjoy the service & the people at your new church there's no reason why you can't get confirmed when you're ready, if you want to that is!  I loved the church I attended at my old house & the people were so friendly.  I was confirmed with a group of other adults 6 years ago.

Do they still have hymns and is it a very 'heavy' service ?

Have you got a parish magazine or have you seen the services advertised somewhere? How is the Wednesday service descirbed where you saw the times?

it just says the time and date on the board outside for the Holy Communion .

The only Communion i have seen was in a Catholic Church as part of a Golden Anniversary and re-taking of vows ceremony .

Catholic services during the week are shorter with a hym start and finish two readings and a shorter Eucharist takes about 30 minutes. I was there this morning and had a nice cuppa and a homemade scone after a nice social gathering :-D
I would think C of E might be the same. The communion you saw in Catholic church would be a full mass so a lot longer
HTH

This may give you some idea of what's involved in the service.
Edited to add it is a shorter service than the full family service on Sunday morning.

> it is a shorter service than the full family service on Sunday morning.

That is what i was hoping !!!  I think i will just have to ' bite the bullet ' and sit at the back .
Thanks for your replies .

Maybe speak to the vicar, I am sure he would be happy to talk things through with you

No need to sit at the back!

C of E churches have a lot of things going on these days. My own church in the village has several types of services and activities. Once month we have a Cafe Plus service, this starts at 9:30am and everybody gets a free breakfast, can read the Sunday papers and these services have a theme, (last one was an art show members of the church displayed art and handicrafts they enjoy doing, this included all ages, in the summer they held a bicycle workshop and fixed up bicycles for anyone who wanted to give their bicycle an MOT).

Other services include on a Sunday early morning service (crack of dawn stuff) then the morning service at 10am or 10:30am, one week might be traditional hymns, the other is modern hymns and music with communion, and then we have a family service (great fun) and in the evenings there are services at 6:30pm which cover a wide variety of styles. They hold a mid week service, but I have never gone to that, and they also have meeting groups and home groups for those who want to participate more. They have communion classes, and the communion services when people get confirmed are always very interesting as the Bishop attends.

Oddly enough I know all this and don't go that often! This year I have only attended the Cafe Plus, (about 5 times...) Ooops! The local parish church office people will be very happy to talk to you about going to the church and will help you find the right sort of activities you might like to attend. Also by meeting them there they will look out for you and introduce to other church goers. Another person to speak to is the vicar who will welcome you to the church as well.

My local church is not a 'high' church, which exists in the C of E. High church is interesting to attend, and are said to be more catholic than the catholic church! They have choir boys, altar boys and those incense burners on a chain and confession booths etc. I have attended two high church services, one in the West Country when a friend was being ordained, and the other at a Christmas service. Some churches are very into the modern music and often get referred to by people I know as the happy clappers! lol I find some of the modern songs very boring, as they repeat a single line or couple of lines over and over again... I end up losing the plot at that point and my mind wanders away to amuse itself....

> I find some of the modern songs very boring, as they repeat a single line or couple of lines over and over again... I end up losing the plot at that point and my mind wanders away to amuse itself....

Most of the really modern songs have moved away from that format luckily.  It really is a case of trying it out and seeing what sort of service suits you.  Most churches now as Polly says have a wide range of activities going on and that may be another way of getting to know people there.  Personally I'd go to the Sunday morning service and see if it suits you as that is normally the service that is designed to appeal to most of the congregation.  Mid week services are often quite / reflective services.

> Most of the really modern songs have moved away from that format luckily. 

My church must be stuck in a time warp then! lol

My local church also have special services to mark occasions, Christmas they have a crib service for people with very small children, then they have the Christingle service and Carols by Candlelight. We also have special services to mark other events in the church year but in my village there is a traditional Fair service for when the fair comes to the church green for the Haddenham Feast.