Ash Wednesday

We mark the start of Lent with our Ash Wednesday eucharist.  This service incorporates the Rite of ashing when the penitents forehead is marked with ash made from burnt palm crosses.  There are various reasons for the use of ashes at the start of Lent. Ashes remind us of God's condemnation of sin, as God said to Adam, "Dust you are and to dust you shall return. Ashes suggest cleansing and renewal. They were used anciently in the absence of soap. Ashes remind us of the shortness of human life, for it is said as we are buried: "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust."  On Ash Wednesday ashes are a penitential substitute for water as a reminder of our baptism.

Ash Wednesday Communion
with Ashing
Wednesday 22nd February
7.30 p.m.



Lenten Compline

Each Wednesday in Lent we shall be holding a service of Compline at 7 p.m. in church.  This service was the last one of the Daily Offices and 'completed' the day, from where it gets it's name.  This is a quiet, reflective service that gives us the opportunity to think about the week past and the week to come.

Lenten Compline
Each Wednesday from Feb. 29th
7 p.m.




Mothering Sunday

The origins of this day are somewhat obscure and it may be the amalgamation of two or three different customs and practices however what it has come to mean is a celebration and thanksgiving for all those who nurish and cherish us, and particularly our mothers.  At this service we encourage the children present to give a gift of a plant to their mothers and we give thanks and pray for them also.

Mothering Sunday Service
Sunday 18th March
10 a.m.

Palm Sunday

On this day we commemorate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem in the week before he was crucified.  The crowds cheered and welcomed him with cries of 'Hosanna' and yet within only a few short days their fickle mood had changed and those cries changed to 'Crucify him'.  We are reminded of how fickle we can be, how ready we are to turn to God in times of need and ignore him when the going is easy.  Our service begins with a Palm Procession beginning in the Rectory Garden.

Palm Sunday Procession and Eucharist
Sunday 1st April
The Rectory Garden
10 a.m.


Holy Week Compline

On Monday to Wednesday in Holy Week we will be holding a daily service of Compline at 7 p.m. as we prepare for the journey with Christ to Golgotha and beyond, as we look to ourselves and make ready to walk in the way of his cross.

Holy Week Compline
2nd - 4th April
7 p.m.


Maundy Thursday

This is our last celebration of Holy Communion before easter and it is a solemn occasion.  As Jesus' earthly life draws to its close so he sought to reinforce the gospel message that he had been proclaiming for the previous 3-4 years.  In Johgn's gospel we have recorded masses of teaching, not least his 'new commandment' to his disciples that they should love onbe another.  Jesus' words were also enacted in his washing of the disciples feet and his instituting the Last Supper.  Finally he retires to the Garden of Gethsemene where he is arrested before being tried, stripped and tortured.  Our service of Holy Communion concludes with the stripping of the altar and a one hour vigil.

Maundy Thursday Communion
with Stripping of the Altar and Vigil
Thursday 5th April
7.30 p.m.


Good Friday

The most solemn day of the year upon which we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ.  It is generally thought this day is called 'Good' Friday because what Jesus did was a good thing for us, as in the hymn 'there is a Ggreen hill far away' which has the verse, "He died that we might be forgiven, he died to make us good.  That we might go at last to heaven saved by his precious blood" however it is more likely that 'good' is a corruption of 'goodly' or 'Godly'.  This day is God's day when he saving purpose is revealed, when death is swallowed up, when sins are forgiven and the path is opened to eternal life with God.

Proclamation of the Cross
Friday 6th April
10 a.m.


Easter Day

Throughout Jesus' ministry he essentially called upon people to say 'Yes' to God.  He called upon them to accept God as their Creator, to accept God as their redeemer.  He called upon them to offer their lives to God as a living sacrifice and to do the things that he, Jesus, was doing, they had to take up their cross and follow him.  But how do we know that what Jesus said was true?  How do we know that Jesus was't simply mad or downright bad?  In the resurrection was have the answer.  The resurrection is God's "Yes" to Jesus, God's affirmation of all that Jesus said and did.

Jesus' resurrection was attested to by those who both knew him and yet who didn't understand him, who had no expectation of what was going to happen.  The first to see the resurrected Christ had no previous hope, and nothing to gain by offering false hope to others.

Easter Day Celebrations
Sunday 8th April
Said Holy Communion 8.30 a.m.
Sung Holy Communiion 10 a.m.