An Easter message from the Bishop of London (Video Link)To: all in the Diocese of LondonAt the heart of the turbulent events of Holy Week and Easter, there are moments of extraordinary and unexpected stillness.Jesus’s arrest in the garden is a scene of chaos, charged with threat – and Peter responds with violence. But Jesus defuses the tension, saying: ‘I am he. If you are looking for me, let these men go.’ Then he reaches out to heal Malchus’s ear. In a moment of terror his attention to another individual de-escalates and calms the situation in a remarkable way.At the Praetorium, again surrounded by soldiers, Jesus is faced by Pilate, who is deeply agitated by the trouble that has landed at his door. As artists throughout history have recognised, again Jesus is the still centre of the scene. Under interrogation, his words are spare but calm, culminating in the simple yet profound question: ‘What is truth?’On the cross, in the midst of his own prolonged agony, Jesus offers reassurance into the fraught exchange between the men on either side of him. ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise’.Then comes the stillness of the tomb. To Jesus’s friends this must surely have spoken of endings, disappointment, confusion and despair. Yet from where we stand in history, we know that the stillness is abundant with possibility and reverberates with hope.Finally, there is the quiet of a garden in early morning. Mary, in profound and disorienting shock, pours out her anguish at her unspeakable loss – now made unbearably worse by the disappearance of the body she had come to prepare for burial. But in that moment, in the expectant silence of the early morning, the world tilts. Presence fills emptiness. There is an electrifying connection. Wonder floods the well of grief. The chaos and turbulence of the world often threaten to overwhelm us. It only takes a glance at global events – in Ukraine, Sudan, the Middle East, and now the USA – to make us feel deeply de-stabilised.As we immerse ourselves in the story of Holy Week and Easter, may we rest in those distilled moments of silence, stillness, space and wonder. And in them may we find hope.The Rt Revd & Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBETHE OLD DEANERY - DEAN'S COURT - LONDON - EC4V 5AAT/ 020 3837 5200 - E/ bishop.london@london.anglican.org
We meet every Sunday, at 10.00am, to celebrate the Eucharist or Holy communion. Everyone is welcome whether members of a church or not. We give thanks to God for his love towards the entire creation and us. First we begin the service by singing and praying together. Then the children go to their own activities in a separate room next to the church. We listen to readings from the Bible and look at what God has said in the ancient scriptures and how it is directly relevant to the lives we are trying to live now.We are then led in prayer by a member of our congregation. We pray for the world, the work of the church, for the people who live and work in East Finchley, and for anyone we know to be in special need of prayer.This leads naturally into sharing and greeting one another with the peace of God. We share the peace by shaking the hand of those around us, usually with the words ‘Peace be with you’, or a special word of encouragement if one is needed.We present the bread and the wine, symbols of our offerings to God, as we begin the Liturgy of the Sacrament. We celebrate, with words and singing, the fact that Jesus died to reconcile us to God, that he conquered death by rising on the Easter morning, and that he is part of our lives here and now. We give witness to our communion with God by sharing in the consecrated bread and wine, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is the moment in the service when we reach out to God most demonstrably, and believe he reaches out to us in a very special way. Everyone is invited to come up to the altar. Those who are baptised and confirmed, or receive communion in their own church, are welcome to receive the bread and the wine. Everyone else is welcome to come forward to receive a blessing and be prayed for. The children join us as well. It's a special moment in the service for everyone to join in. In every church there is a time for notices. This is it. Before praying for God's blessing, we find out what is coming up and hear what the children have been learning. Then with a final hymn and a blessing, we are encouraged to 'Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord'Afterwards it is time for coffee, to meet our friends and make new ones.
