CHURCH services must combine the old and the new if they are to encourage more people to worship says a Worcester priest.

Father Ian Pearson has welcomed a campaign to get more people into churches on Sunday.

The scheme called “Back to Church Sunday” will be launched by members of the Prayer Book Society on Sunday, September 28.

The society wants more churches to use the 1662 Book of Common Prayer which it has called “the bedrock of our nation’s church”, especially in Sun-day services.

But Father Ian, the priest at Old St Martin’s Church in the Cornmarket and St George’s Church, Barbourne, believes modern prayers and hymns have a part to play in services. He said: “Not everything old is good and not everything new is good. We have to make informed choices. We choose the best of the old and the best of the new.”

Father Ian uses the 1662 Book of Common Prayer for about a third of his services and the 2000 Common Worship for the remainder.

He also favours a combination of modern hymns – some by British Christian singer and songwriter Graham Kendrick – and old hymns like Henry Francis Lyte’s Praise My Soul The King of Heaven to appeal to a range of worshippers.

He also uses a modern language version of the Bible for modern services and the 1611 Authorised King James Bible which uses more poetic language and words like thee and thou – for more traditional services.

However, he insists that all his services, whether they use old or new forms of prayers and hymns, remain traditional because of the message he is trying to communicate remains the same.

Father Ian said: “All our services are traditional but some are more modern than others. Traditional does not mean old-fashioned. A lot of people think it’s dumbing down God. We’re not.”

He said the use of modern technology to communicate an old message illustrated the need for “a mix of old and new”.

The Prayer Book Society says that the Book of Common Prayer should be used in mainstream Sunday services, not just during early morning Communion and Evensong. The Diocese of Worcester was not able to supply information about how many churches use the Book of Common Prayer or during which services.