WALKING THE 14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS – JERUSALEM. Along the “Via Dolorosa” (Latin for: “Way of Grief” or “Way of Suffering”). The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.
Please find to download, a copy of the 14 Stations of the Cross for your own visitation and reflection throughout Holy Week.
We had intended to have a service for this tonight at Christ Church, Helme – but of course this was no longer possible due to the Coronavirus – Covid 19 situation.
I hope that you can make good use of it – using the pictures and words for your own reflections and prayers.
The crowds that went ahead of him and those that
followed shouted,
“Hosanna
to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
It is a basic
principle of Christianity that our God is The God of grace, abundant and
immeasurable grace. No matter how hard you try you can never out give God.
Whatever we offer him, through his grace he returns immeasurably more. He is
the God that turns our thinking upside down and this is the same in worship.
Worship is not our gift to God; it is a gift from God.
On Palm Sunday a great crowd of people greeted Jesus
as their king, they worshiped him as the messiah. Like us these people would
have had many challenges and problems in their lives and there were certainly
difficult times to face in the week ahead. But in this moment of worship there
was great joy for anyone who was willing to give themselves over to it.
Not being able to
meet in our Churches means that worship is different at the moment, but a great
many people are going to some considerable efforts to find ways to worship God.
As we worship, our God draws us close to himself, we experience a taste of his
glory, and receive his peace.
Worship is not our gift to God; it is a gift from God.
Reverend John (Vicar)
Website
There will be some materials available on the website for reflection during Holy Week.
Annual
Parochial Church Meeting 29th April
You will not be surprised to hear that this meeting has been postponed. Bishop Nick has used his
powers as our diocesan Bishop to delay all the requirements of this meeting
until the end of October.
Magazine;
There
is now an April edition available on the website. Unfortunately our printers
are closed for the duration. If you know of anyone who needs a paper copy it
can be printed from the website but I must encourage that all social distancing
measures be followed. Sharing paper copies with a neighbour may be possible but
please do not print and distribute in large number.
The best way of praying this week is simply to follow it. There are readings given for each day of Holy week sent as an attachment. All we have to do in our prayer is to be open and receptive, content to follow and to receive what God chooses to give us. In this way our prayer enters into the way Christ lives it. He allows himself to be taken on a journey by the Father “Thy will be done”.
So let Scripture take you on this road. Be attentive to it; notice its details, entrust yourself to it. Don’t fill up your prayer with too many words or thoughts or petitions, for your Heavenly Father knows all that you need. Let each period of prayer begin by simply asking for the Grace of God to be with you this Holy Week, to be close to Christ as He does the will of the Father. May you touch something of the mystery of this life and Love as we prepare ourselves to Celebrate Easter Day.
Heavenly Father, we turn our hearts to you. You are utterly faithful, and you have never failed us. Grant us hope, strength and mercy in our time of need. Enable us to throw our cares onto you, our mighty God.
O Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for those touched by the coronavirus, those who face sorrow, fear, illness and isolation. May they know your presence with them at this time so that your presence overcomes their fear.
O Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for wisdom and clarity for all those making key decisions, for scientists, medical experts, politicians and public health officials. We pray for acts of kindness to spread in every community and we thank you for all these that are taking place now.
O Lord, hear our prayer.
In Jesus’ name: Amen
Scripture reading:
“Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
Our story begins today on the day before Palm Sunday. It is set in the home of Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary where they are having a dinner in honour of Jesus. The twelve disciples are there, and the sense is, probably, a good number of others too. It’s a party and Lazarus’s home is full of people and joy…………………
In this series of reflections, I am going to invite you to try and get into the mind of key characters within some of the stories leading up to Easter day. Whilst doing this I’m going to ask questions about hope, particularly where these key characters are looking for or finding their hope.
Monday: Jesus
anointed at Bethany
Tuesday: Jesus predicts his death
Wednesday: Jesus says that one will betray him
Thursday: Jesus
washes the disciple’s feet
These are designed to be used at any time during the
day.
There
will also be
Maundy Thursday: a
short on-line Communion service which I encourage you to join in with at 7:30pm
(though you can use it at any time)
Good Friday: An hour at the cross, 2-3pm, and Stainer’s Crucifixion at 7:30pm
Apologies for the technical delay! The service is now available online. Due to this delay, Rev’d John will do the service this evening at 6pm!
You are encourage to play the service starting at 6pm, but you can listen any time if it is not convenient. Please inform anyone you planned to phone up to listen in with you.
Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the service will be delayed. We are working hard to resolve these and hope to have it sorted to ready to start at 1pm.
There will be a variety of opportunities for you to join us for online worship from the Parish of #Meltham through Holy Week and leading up to Easter day. Again, you are encouraged to contact via telephone others from our congregations that don’t have modern gadgets or computers and let them join in the worship as you listen together (maybe do a trial run first using last weeks service – you may need to put the phone that you are ringing them with on loudspeaker, and placing near your sound source for best results). Many mobile phones allow you to merge a call with several people, which is a useful way to reach out to others (careful not use up all your inclusive minutes though if they are limited). Maybe think about sharing the links with friends and family who wouldn’t normally come to a service?
Please find below current planned upcoming services (note these may be subject to change).
Sunday 5th April (Palm Sunday) 10:30am – HOLY COMMUNION (Online via YouTube / Parish website) (Link will be released separately beforehand) 11:15am – SERVICE OF THE WORD (Online via Zoom – details below) 4:00pm – Olivet to Calvary (with interactive images) – sung by St Bartholomew’s Choir (Online via YouTube / Parish Website)
Tuesday 7th April 7:00pm – Taize Service (Online via Zoom – details to follow)
Thursday 9th April (Maundy Thursday) 7:00pm – Holy Communion (Online via YouTube / Parish website)
Friday 10th April (Good Friday) 2:00pm – An hour at the Cross – Reflections and music (Online via YouTube / Parish website) 7:30pm – Stainer’s Crucifixion (with interactive images) – sung by St Bartholomew’s Choir (Online via YouTube / Parish website)
Sunday 12th April (Easter Day) 10:30am – SUNG EUCHARIST (Online via YouTube / Parish website) 11:15am – HOLY COMMUNION (Online via Zoom – details to follow)
Links will be sent out before each individual service.
Details for Service of the Word – Sunday 5th April from 11:15am
The meeting will be open for joining from 11:00am before the service commences at 11:15am. Please arrive in time so the service can start promptly on time. Remember, other participants can see you just as you can see them. If you do/don’t want to be seen by the other participants, make sure you set the Video icon to Start or Stop as required. This is a live service. You may be required to register with Zoom beforehand, and enter your personal email address (even though it says work). You will then be given the option to download the Zoom application.
Due to the COVID-19 virus situation we are unable to get this edition in hard copy so please feel free to share/forward this around to those who (under the current circumstances) may not receive this. However, if anyone does require this magazine in a hard copy, please send an email with the postal address to melthamparishmagazine@gmail.com and we will try and get a copy to you as soon as we can. Similarly, people can be added to the distribution list by signing up for email alerts from the Parish website or liking the Parish page on facebook to receive notifications.
Though our church buildings are currently closed, the Parish of #Meltham certainly is not – online services are taking place! Whilst the restrictions are in place, we are experimenting with different methods of worship and learning what works well, and what not so, whilst also being mindful of what platforms we can use to enable a wide audience of people to join in – some who have no on-line tech at all, and those who do have tech limits like for example, limited bandwidth.
Tonight at 6pm, a live ZOOM service will take place led by Jacqueline France and others from the team at St Mary’s Wilshaw. You are invited to join the service using the link here:
Topic: Evening service – God of hope. Time: Mar 29, 2020 06:00 PM London
If you already have ZOOM installed you will go straight to the meeting when you click on the link. If you join before the host you will be asked to wait until the host joins.
If you do not have ZOOM installed (i.e. this is the first time you have done this) you will be prompted to install ZOOM when you click on the link. Once installed you will automatically join the service.
If you haven’t already got ZOOM installed on your device, please try to join a bit earlier to give yourself chance to get the app installed. Instructions can be found here: