Congratulations to our Confirmation Candidates! It was a lovely service with Bishop Jill. Thank you to all who came to support them. Please keep them in your prayers.
On Maundy Thursday,Reverend Lesley joined other Priests of the Diocese to renew their vows at the Cathedral. Also on Maundy Thursday there was a traditional service of Footwashing and Holy Communion at St John’s. This year it was a humbling experience to wash feet and to strip the altarAt St Anne’s parishioners ate a simple supper in The Refectory and then remembered Jesus’ Last Supper as Holy Communion was celebrated.On Good Friday, at St Anne’s, there was a reflective service with meditations and contemporary Christian music, as we watched by the Cross for the last hour before Jesus died.At St John’s, there was a wonderful service of choral music and Scripture readings as we recounted Jesus’ journey to the Cross. Thank you to the choirs of both our churches and also those of Burnley and Pendle DeaneryEaster Sunday We celebrated the first Holy Communion of Easter at dawn in the Garden of Remembrance at St Anne’s. It was a beautiful morning, filled with soft light and birdsong and this photo captures the stillness and peace of early morning.At St John’s, the Sanctuary was beautifully decorated with white lilies, the Easter Cross and Paschal candle for our main service at 9.30amAt St Anne’s. the Sanctuary had the Cross of Lilies and there was an Easter Garden, with the stone rolled away for our service at 11am.
St John’s this week saw the top coat plaster to phase one of the work begun several years ago to stop the ingress of water into the fabric of the building, as identified in the Quinquennial reports of 2015 and 2021. The remainder of this work is planned for later this year when the North wall and West gable will have the top coat of plaster applied. Then we can address decorating! Thank you to the Saturday Team for their time and effort in preparing the church for this important work.
