Holy Week is a special time in the Church calendar, it is an invitation to walk with Jesus to the Cross, but also to know hope and life because of Easter Day. We will be putting on extra services this week, even if you can't join us, then please feel free to give yourself space this week to think about your Journey with God. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we will be holding Compline. Compline is an ancient service of quiet prayer before the ending of the day. We will be holding this at 8.30pm in the Chancel on Monday and Wednesday, but at the Rectory on Tuesday, all are welcome to all these services. On Thursday we will be holding a Maundy Thursday Service at 7pm and on Good Friday at 2pm with an Hour at the Foot of the Cross with music and readings. Advanced Notice - Pet Service 4pm 14th April
When you read this article, we will nearly be at the end of Lent, and heading towards Easter. Lent is for some 40 days of giving something up, maybe a mini diet after the New Year resolution diet has failed! It maybe a time for doing something new and positive for yourself or others. Or maybe a period of reflection and for some it is the time between Pancake Day and Easter where everything carries on as normal, except for some reason, others seem cranky as they are denying themselves chocolate! Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Lencten, meaning lengthen and refers to the lengthening days of Spring. This period coincided with the Early Church practice that those who wished to enter the faith would learn about it over 40 days and on Easter Sunday would be welcomed and baptised. It was also the time for those who had left the church, to “repent” and get ready for re-admission to the church again on Easter Sunday. The local church was encouraged to walk with those on these journeys and to join in with study and repentance, prayer and fasting. “Repent” is usually a negative, associated with someone shouting in your face, or a red-faced priest, yelling at a bunch of unimpressed miserable parishioners from a pulpit! Yet “Repent” should not be a negative word. In the original Greek it means to “change your mind for the better.” It is about concluding in your own mind that something is not right and then doing something positive about it as a result. Someone likened it to the change of a caterpillar to a butterfly. When Jesus walked on the earth, people “repented”. They were transformed after hearing and encountering Jesus. The values Jesus spoke about, and his followers tried to live up to (and often or not failed at) are still relevant today and many of us, both of faith and of no faith would hold them dear and wish to see them more evident in the world. We live in days when we can at times wonder at the state of humanity. It’s easy to shake our heads, to worry or bury our heads in the sand and even be part of the problem if we are not careful, but that is not how change happens. It is individuals who help bring change about, by often listening and reflecting and then changing their own attitudes and actions. In the church, we are encouraged in Lent to reflect on what really matters in life, with the focus of the Easter Story. Partly because of His challenge of hierarchy and authority, Jesus was killed. But Easter, is the story of death to life, darkness to light, despair to hope. It’s about transformation. Lent is also a good time for anyone, whether people of faith or no faith to reflect and hope for transformation. What can we do to make a difference, in our road, our parish, the Island and the world?
<a href="https://www.itv.com/news/channel/2023-10-26/original-drawings-used-as-stained-glass-window-templates-restored?fbclid=IwAR0W6adEOEFH0gvAJ7LE1ZV6hJxdiWL1SjEJXjM2Mt19VEj3DSmh_OmkTu8">Original drawings used as templates for Jersey's stained glass windows go on display | ITV News Channel</a>
Pete was born in Devizes, Wiltshire, and was adopted and brought up in Bath, and attended the local Open Brethren with his parents and younger sister. He left school at 16 and began to work for the Civil Service. In 1991 he became a Youth Worker for a Church in Reading, Berkshire and then their Children’s worker and Administrator. In Reading, Pete met Anne who was training to be a nurse, and they married in 1997. Their son Josh was born in 1999 and Essie in 2001.In 2005 Pete began working for a RE charity in Reading, supporting Schools, Churches and other faiths in developing engaging RE Lessons and Collective Worship across schools in East Reading and Wokingham. Soon afterwards the family started attending St Nicolas Church in Earley and then came the tap on the shoulder for Pete from his Vicar and the family moved to Ripon College Cuddesdon nr Oxford for Pete to study and moved to Salisbury Diocese as a Curate in 2010 in the Benefice of Charminster & Stinsford. In 2014 the family moved to Bridport, Dorset where Pete was appointed the Team Vicar for the Parish of Bridport. Alongside this Pete became the Chaplain to 39 Signal Regiment in the Army Reserve.During his time in Bridport, Pete led the parish through an interregnum, worked closely with the Town Council, especially during the Pandemic and helped develop the Bridport Community Hub, with the Salisbury Board of Education, a network of organisations including schools and churches seeking to transform the lives of local young people and children. He also worked closely with the head and staff at St Mary’s CE School as their “Vicar” and as a Governor.Pete & Anne are looking forward to settling into the community of St Martin’s. Anne is a qualified Nurse Practioner and looking forward to working in Jersey. Josh is studying Zoology at Aberystwyth and Essie is studying Drama and Film at Royal Holloway in EghamAnne enjoys being outside, usually involving the sea and gardening, and Pete enjoys listening to history and military history podcasts, working on 00 gauge model railways and walking the family dogs Tilly & Barney.
