Easter Day is 31st March this year, which is a 5th Sunday. Because it is Easter we not having just one service (which is what normally happens when there is a fifth Sunday) but two! For the early risers there is a Holy Communion service at Lamplugh at 9a.m., and then at 11 a.m. we are having an All Age Holy Communion service at Kirkland.This replaces the normal All Age communion on the fourth Sunday, which is Palm Sunday, so the service at Kirkland at 11 a.m. will be Common Worship Holy Communion; the same service as will have happened at Ennerdale at 9 a.m. But because it is Palm Sunday we won't have a sermon; instead there will be a reading of the Passion narrative from Mark's gospel in its entirety.The third Sunday in March is as normal, but turning to the second Sunday, there is no Messy Church in the afternoon because it is Mothering Sunday. Instead we have All Age Worship at Kirkland in the morning (complete with our traditional 'Messy Interlude' in the middle of the service.If all that seems complicated, just look at the Calendar of services for the appropriate church, and it should be clear what is happening.
This year we are working together with the other churches in our Mission Community to offer a Lent Course, based on the book Loving my Neighbour - A Lenten journey edited by Olivia Warburton and published by BRF (Bible Reading Fellowship)On Monday evenings at 7 p.m. the course will be offered via Zoom (contact us for the Zoom link), and the same material will be repeated on a Wednesday morning at 10.30 a.m. in the Parish Hall in Egremont,
Slowly we are abandoning practices we adopted for good reason during the pandemic.Our services have returned to their pre-Covid length, and we are singing again! Those attending services are now able to remain afterwards for refreshments and conversation, should they wish.We are still exchanging a 'wave' of peace rather than a handshake at The Peace The most recent change has been to cease restricting the wine at holy communion to the minister, but with a different practice at each church. At Ennerdale the chalice will be available to the congregation, but they are at liberty to retain their wafer and dip it in wine instead of drinking from the chalice if they prefer. At Lamplugh the minister will touch the wafer on the wine and place it in the hand of the communicant. At Kirkland the 2nd Sunday communion will follow the same practice as Lamplugh, but the informal communion on the 4th Sunday will use individual glasses.
