We have reached the 5th Sunday after Easter, and on a cold grey April morning we met for our 10 am Eucharist. The Gospel this morning was from St John, chapter 15 verses 1 to 8 in which Jesus uses the analogy of the vine to tell us about our relationship with God. We are the branches and He is the vine, we can only flourish if we are connected to the vine. Father Stephen developed this idea in his sermon, thinking of our friendship with God being similar to the parable Jesus told. We are connected and through this connection we can grow and flourish and be fruitful. A friendly community is attractive to us, and will bring in more to the love and knowledge of God and in this way we are fruitful.
The Choir sang 'Walking in a Garden' after communion, and there was coffee in the new rooms after the service.

There will be a Confirmation Service at St Mary our Lady on Thursday 17th of May at 7:30, this service is for the Deanery, so we expect many visitors from other Churches who also have candidates, but please come along to support them and our own candidates as they become full members of the Church of Christ.

This morning we came together for our 10 am Eucharist on a beautiful sunny spring morning. Father Stephen was the celebrant and in his sermon he spoke about the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The original idea of the messiah as the Good Shepherd comes from the Old Testament, and was developed in the Gospels. In biblical times a shepherd would gather together his flock each evening and keep them in a safe place guarded from predators. Father Stephen told us that in the same way Jesus watches over us and guards from evil, and he comes for us, Christians, and for all who turn to him.
The choir sang 'Turn thy face from my sins' by Thomas Attwood as the anthem. There was coffee in the new rooms after the service.



 

Easter day dawned dry and cool the first dry day for some time! The Celebration of the Eucharist at 10 am was a joyous service, with a Church beautifully decorated with flowers, and full of  people  wishing each other Happy Easter. The service included several well known Easter Hymns, and after the Sermon, 2 of the Junior Choristers received their Dark Blue Ribbons, congratulations to Maggie and James! During Communion the Choir sang 'Just as I am' in the setting by J.H.Maunder, and 'This Joyful Easter tide'. At the end of the service James and Maggie offered baskets of mini eggs to those leaving the Church.

It is our duty and our Joy to declare

At  7 pm on another very wet day the weather relented and we were able to light the new fire of Easter outside, Father Stephen blessed the fire and the new Pascal Candle inserting the pieces of incense to mark the wounds of Our Lord. He then lit the Candle, from which we all lit our own candles and processed into the Church. The Pascal Candle was places in its stand next to the Altar, and the Hymn of Exaltation was sung. Readings, starting with the story of the crossing of the Red Sea, were heard, and then the Congregation gathered at the Font to re-new their Baptism vows.
This was followed by the Eucharist, our first celebration of the resurrection in this Easter tide!










 

On thi
On this day of continuous pouring rain our Good Friday Devotions were from the Cross of Christ. Readings from the passion gospel were interspersed with Hymns and Anthems appropriate to the day. The service was followed by a Choir rehearsal at 'Russets' courtesy of Mr and Mrs Hrland. There were hot cross buns for tea! A photo of the Adult Choir members, and one Junior Chorister, Emily, was taken

We met at 7:30 on the evening of Maundy Thursday for the Eucharist and Gethsemane Watch.
This service, as is traditional, recalled and commemorated the events of Maundy Thursday, Jesus washing his disciples' feet, the instigation of the Eucharist, and the events of Jesus' arrest. The Choir sang the Ave verum corpus, setting by Sir Edward Elgar as the anthem.
At the end of the service, while the Choir sang a plainsong version of an Easter hymn, the Altar was striped of its clothes and left bare and the congregation moved silently away, or joined the Watch in the North Transept, where the Gethsemane Garden had been arranged.