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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Julie Miller - How Could You Say No.

Meditations

My reflection for the online Church of England service included a meditation I wrote on transformation. Over the years I have written a considerable number of meditations alongside my poetry. Some have been posted here; some in sermons and some in their own right. Others are available to download from other sites.

This post provides links to the majority of these meditations:

• 'Transformation';  
• 'Come to the feast of life';
• 'Jesus and Pilate';
• 'Unregarded';
• 'Where is Jesus now?'
• 'The Mark of the Cross';
• 'Travelling Light';
• 'Alternative Nine Lessons';
• 'Station 14 - Jesus is laid in the tomb';
• 'In Between';
• 'The Passion';
• 'I come alive';
• 'Prayer is attention paid';
• 'Borne to be born';
• 'Wonder of wonders';
• 'Love is ...';
• 'Until I see';
• 'Where God likes it best';
• 'Touch me not';
• 'Love is all we need';
• 'Baptism';
• 'Praise the Lord';
• 'Waiting'.

'Come, Lord Jesus, Come' is an Advent devotional (booklet & slideshow) by Victoria Emily Jones based on an Advent meditation written by myself.

Mark of the Cross and The Passion are 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.

'Five Trios' is a series of poems on thin places and sacred spaces in the Diocese of Chelmsford. The five poems in the series are:

• 'Barking';
• 'Bradwell';
• 'Broomfield';
• 'Pleshey'; and
• 'Runwell'.

These poems have been published by Amethyst Review and International Times. IT have also published a poem, The ABC of creativity, which covers attention, beginning and creation.

Other of my poems have appeared in Amethyst Review. They are: 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'. To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, and here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kelly Joe Phelps - Down To The Praying Ground.

'Mark of the Cross' and 'The Passion'

Mark of the Cross and The Passion are collections of images, meditations and prayers by Henry Shelton and myself. 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adrian Snell - Golgotha.