Archbishops of Canterbury and York call the nation to pray as the deaths from Covid19 pass the 100 ,000 mark. The enormity of this figure has prompted our bishops to ask the nation to come together to pause and pray daily.Read on to find out when it begins and what time . To other news , this Tuesday we celebrate Candlemas which officially marks the end of the Christmas season and marks the midpoint of winter. The church remembers on this day the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Our sermon this week is written by the Rte Revd. Matthew Parker and is based on Lukes gospel account of Jesus being presented in the temple . It is a biitter sweet story writes Matthew as is our story of this last year . But as the characters in the gospel account witness the hope of the Christ child , for Israel, so we too have that gift of hope that is in Jesus Christ today in our sorrow filled world.This weeks prayers have been contributed by Denise Snowball.
Margaret Bailey a valued member of the community in Swynnerton and Eccleshall will be very sadly missed by all her family , friends and all who knew her. Read the short tribute to her. LIchfield Cathedral continues to roll out the vaccine in a bid to fight the pandemic. , bringing hope and relief to many. Our Bishops sermons continue and this weeks features the Bishop of Lichfield Michael Ipgrave. The bible passage for this week is John 2:1-12 and is the story of Jesus' first miracle at the wedding at Cana and marks the begining of his ministry. Bishop Michael reflects on God's nature of abundant grace, extravagance and kindness in this miracle of turning water into wine , his glory revealed through Jesus . Discover how much water was actually turned into wine you ll be amazed !! Further afield our links with Archdeacon Rev. William Shakespeare Pashi in Uganda writes with news about the difficulties his country is experiencing. Our prayers this week have contributed by Alex Baines .
Read how the cathedral is responding to task of rolling out the vaccine programme plus all the local news . Join us on Sunday morning as we come together with St.Lukes church ,Tittensor for an online morning service starting at 10 am . Details to be found in the newsletter with the link. Along with our service sheet is a sermon written by Sarah Bullock , Bishop of Worcester whose message of trusting in and waiting on God is much needed encoragement in these difficult times .From the gospel reading from John , Bishop Sarah asks what is it that we are being called to do? This weeks prayers are the contributions from the sisters of Grandchamp a community in Switzerland , as we begin the week of prayer for Christian Unity .
Read what Bishop Michael of Lichfield says about why baptism is so important as a precious gift from God and why we need to take it seriously . This weeks bible reading tells the story from Marks gospel about Jesus ' baptism , so read what God said to him as he came up out of the water and as Christians as we are baptised those same words are true for us too ! Read how two members of our church family Frank and Tina Mugglestone volunteer their time and skills to a local organisation called Sanctus which is financially supported by St. Mary's . Sanctus provides practical help and support and befriending to assylum seekers and refugees who have sought sanctuary here and are isolated. Nesta Williams has contributed the intercessions this week.
