We begin Holy Week by recalling Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
For information on our services on Sunday 28 March please see the post for Palm Sunday.
Palm crosses will be available from the Porch of All Saints’ Church between 10am – 12noon on Saturday 27 March and from 9am in the Porch of the Vicarage, The Hollow, Dilton Marsh. Please come by and pick one up for yourself and anyone else who might like one.
We follow him to the Upper Room for the Last Supper.
Rev’d Caroline Husband will lead an Agape Meal for Maundy Thursday (1 April) on Zoom at 7pm
“In the early Church, agape meals were a time of fellowship for “People of the Way” as the earliest Christians were called. The Eucharist, our Christian sacramental celebration instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper, was often a part of these meals, BUT THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING. Probably between the late 1st century and the mid-3rd century AD, the two feasts became separate. Its use has waxed and waned over the centuries, but “Love Feasts” enjoyed a revival in the 18th century in the Methodist Church with the Wesley brothers, particularly in America and partly because of a lack of ordained ministers to celebrate Holy Communion in the New World”. (From Discipleship Ministries, the United Methodist Church )
You may like to have with you, A candle (John 8:12 “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life…”), some bread (John 6:35 “I am the bread of life”), some water (John 4:13-14 “the water that I give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life”) and some wine to symbolize the pouring out of Jesus’ blood of the New Covenant.
Please Note that we will NOT be holding Breakout rooms, or after service chat on this occasion. At the end of the music I will close the meeting. I encourage you to keep vigil in your own homes, you may want to read your Bibles, write in your journal, pray. Please take this time to reflect on Jesus, his leadership, his challenge to us, and the invitation “will you come and follow me?”
Collect for Maundy Thursday
God our Father,
your Son Jesus Christ was obedient to the end
and drank the cup prepared for him:
may we who share his table
watch with him through the night of suffering and be faithful. Amen
Readings for this service are:
Exodus 12: 1 – 4, 11 – 14
Psalm 116: 1, 10 – end
1 Corinthians 11: 23 – 26
John 13: 1 – 17, 31b – 35
and into the Garden of Gethsemane where he was betrayed.
On Good Friday we recall the judgement by Pilot, his betrayal by Peter and his agonising death on the cross
Some of the churches in Westbury Area Churches Together have put together a series of meditations on some themes from the book: A Cross in the Heart of God – Reflections on the death of Jesus by the Revd Dr Sam Wells.
There will be a recorded service available on YouTube on Friday 2 April.
Details to follow.
Service of Tenebrae for Good Friday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3RsuYrcRbo
Collect for Good Friday
Eternal God,
in the cross of Jesus
we see the cost of our sin
and the depth of your love:
in humble hope and fear
may we place at his feet
all that we have and all that we are,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Readings for Good Friday
Isaiah 52: 13 – to the end of chapter 53
Psalm 22
Hebrews 10: 16 – 25
On Easter Sunday we celebrate Christ’s victory over death and his resurrection from the tomb.
We are pleased to be returning to our churches on Easter Day (4 April) with Parish Communion at
All Saints’, Westbury at and at
The service at All Saints’ Church is now over subscribed and so we may not be able to accommodate you on the day
Holy Trinity, Dilton Marsh both at 9.30am.
There will be a Zoom service of Easter Praise led by Rev’d Helen Durant Stevensen and Ashley Jones LLM at 10am for those unable to attend our in person services.
For details on how to join our service please sign up for our weekly e-newsletter.