There has been our celebrations of Holy Week and Easter with a re-establishing of elements of our liturgy (including at St Mary’s the first use of the High Altar on Holy Saturday). Thank you to all who contributed to the services and preparation of the Churches – and to our preachers in Holy week and the Archdeacon over the Tridium. There has been the much awaited return of the May Fayre – a great event. Many have commented on the atmosphere and the number of people there – St John’s Ambulance estimated 15,000! Thank you to the huge Army of volunteers (nearly 90) from across the Parish who worked together to hep us raise over £12K! Then this weekend sees the first of our Summer weddings – with 2 couples who have been waiting since 2020! – and the joy those services bring ... Please read the attached PDF newsletter to get the full news content.
We will be welcoming some guest preachers to help us reflect on this journey and how we have over last months been building communities on love. On Monday April 11th – at the end of the 7pm service –Revd Dawn Banting, who leads the QA Chaplaincy team, will reflecton her experiences of COVID. Tuesday 12th – at the same time – we welcome Revd Tracey Ansell, from North End Baptist church, willspeak from her experience of leading Hope into Action in the city and establishing the North End Pantry. Finally on the Wednesday, Revd Bryan Stevenson, from St Luke’s, will consider our theme in the light of his work with Bridgeway, a project for young people.At St Mary’s from Maundy Thursday to Easter Day our Archdeacon, Jenny Rowley, will join us as our preacher. St Wilfrid’s and St Faith’s will have their own pattern for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday – but those who wish will be able to celebrate the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday together at St Mary’s at 8.30pm.To learn more on how we will Build a Community Base on Love in Holy Week read the attached newsletter.
This week we marked the end of the Christmas Season and for a period returned to what in the Church’s calendar is called ‘Ordinary Time’. The colour changes from White to Green and from this Sunday we will count down the Sundays till Lent. This is one of those year’s where that period between Christmas and Lent will be the whole of February as Ash Wednesday is March 2nd. That sense of between the times extends beyond the church’s calendar. We have moved out of Plan B in response to COVID but still are in a period of care for each other and caution.Read on by downloading the attached newsletter.
