Tagged: easter

Services for Easter Day


Join us for worship at Saint John’s on Easter Day.

Our first service is the Easter Dawn Service at 6.15am. This begins with the lighting of the Paschal Candle from the Easter Fire. Then, after the singing of the Exsultet and the vigil of readings we go to the font to renew our baptism vows before continuing with communion.

Our normal Parish Mass is at 10am. We bless the Easter garden at this service before continuing to celebrate the resurrection.

What I said on Advent Sunday


Charles de Foucauld

Here we are – Advent Sunday. And I wouldn’t mind betting that even though Advent is still only a few hours old you’re already, most of you, thinking about Christmas. In vicarworld we can beat that – we’re already planning Lent and Easter. So let’s just think about Easter for a moment and the words of Saint Augustine: “We are an Easter people – and Hallelujah is our song”.

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What the priest I live with said this Sunday – Christ the King


A little late posting this week’s sermon – I’m having a few days off and have only just been able to sort this out. I had a week of preaching as Mother Anne-Marie had the privilege. Here’s what she said. The cross in the picture is the cross that she mentions having brought in the sermon.

John 18.33-37

The Church is which I became a Christian was dominated by a wonderful cross depicting Christ as King. It was only many years later that I came to appreciate how much that image spoke to me and the part it played in my  conversion.

I had originally gone to this church very reluctantly on an Easter Sunday, simply because my mother and aunt were staying with me for the holiday weekend and wanted to go to church – we are going back some thirty five years here. They chose this particular church because my auntie Trix had seen a photo of the vicar! A leaflet had come through the door advertising all the local churches and it included a photo of each minister – what a way to advertise. Anyway Auntie Trix had said “let’s go there, that vicar looks sexy!” Continue reading

The questions children ask


As well as leading Collective Worship on a regular basis at our church school, I also get to do a lot of other things with the children. Next week, for example, Year 2 are coming to the church to learn about baptism. Tomorrow I am going in to see Year 1 and to answer their questions about what I actually do. Agreeing to answer questions without knowing what they are beforehand is, as any politician will tell you, fraught with difficulties. It’s much the same when answering the questions of children. A few years ago I was asked to go into the school and answer questions from Years 1 and 2 about Easter. Most of the questions were fine, right up to the point when one child asked, “Where does the Easter Bunny come from?” One possible future flashed into my mind – if I pointed out that the Easter Bunny didn’t actually exist, then I could find myself suffering a similar fate as the priest who told the children at an assembly that Father Christmas wasn’t real. He found the news spread across the national press, branded as the wicked vicar who spoilt the childhood of all these children by telling them their presents actually came from their parents. I took the coward’s way out and said, “Actually, the Easter Bunny isn’t anything to do with the Church, so I don’t know the answer, but I’m sure your teacher will be able to answer the question for you after I’ve gone.” Hopefully all the questions tomorrow will be easier to answer.