Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter

Messy Holy Week / Easter
Mess! Fun! Food! FREE Kids crafts, activities, games, stories, & songs! plus FREE tea for each child
2-4pm, Saturday 12th April 2025, St Andrews Church, Wickford
Email emmacdoe@googlemail.com or Sue.wise@sky.com

Sunday 13th April (Palm Sunday): 9.30 am Eucharist, St Mary’s; 10.00 am Eucharist - St Andrew’s; 11.00 am All Age Eucharist St Catherine's; 6.30 pm Reflective Evening Prayer, St Mary’s.

Holy Week & Easter Services

Holy Week (14-19 April)

Stations of the Cross and Night Prayer – 8.00 pm, St Andrew’s (Monday), St Catherine’s (Tuesday), St Mary’s (Wednesday)

Eucharist with footwashing – Maundy Thursday (17 April), 8.00 pm, St Catherine’s (followed by The Watch)

Good Friday Walk of Witness (18 April) – begins from Our Lady of Good Counsel at 10.00 am
At the Foot of the Cross – 2.00 pm, St Andrew’s with soloist Eva Romanakova

Easter Day (20 April)

Service of Light – 5.30 am St Mary’s, followed by breakfast
Eucharist – 9.30 am St Mary’s; Eucharist – 10.00 am St Andrew’s; Eucharist – 11.00 am St Catherine’s

Meditations for the Stations of the Cross will be drawn from Mark of the Cross and The Passion, collections of images, meditations and prayers by Henry Shelton and myself on The Stations of the Cross. They provide helpful reflections and resources for Lent and Holy Week. These collections can both be found as downloads from theworshipcloud.

Mark of the Cross is a book of 20 poetic meditations on Christ’s journey to the cross and reactions to his resurrection and ascension. The meditations are complemented by a set of semi-abstract watercolours of the Stations of the Cross and the Resurrection created by Henry Shelton.

The Passion: Reflections and Prayers features minimal images with haiku-like poems and prayers that enable us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross reflecting both on the significance and the pain of that journey as we do so. Henry and I have aimed in these reflections to pare down the images and words to their emotional and theological core. The mark making and imagery is minimal but, we hope, in a way that makes maximum impact.

Jesus dies on the cross

The sun is eclipsed, early nightfall,
darkness covers the surface of the deep,
the Spirit grieves over the waters.
On the formless, empty earth, God is dead.

Through the death of all we hold most dear, may we find life. Amen.

At St Andrew's on Monday 14 April, we will pray the Stations of the Cross by Steve Whittle. Steve's exhibition entitled 'The Way' can be seen at St Andrew's until Good Friday.

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Julie Miller - How Could You Say No.