Approaching Easter in Lockdown

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

John 13:34

Here is the latest briefing from Bishop Keith…

Dear Friends,

This is going to be a Holy week and Easter like no other. To be isolated from one another when we will crave fellowship is truly awful. To be absent from the remembrance of the Lord’s supper, to be absent from the worship at the Cross on Good Friday, to be absent from the great celebration and the Easter Acclamation, “The Lord is risen; He is risen indeed. Alleluia!”, will be strange indeed.

At one level this absence will be a huge loss. At another level the absence will be a moment in which the Lord speaks. How keenly we will feel the Lord’s own isolation through betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion. We will taste a very little of what it was like to be deprived of your closest friends at your moment of greatest need. Please God none of us will want to echo the cry of dereliction from the cross, “My God my God why have you forsaken me?”. All of this Jesus did for us, as the beautiful Good Friday Hymn says, “We believe it was for us he hung and suffered there”; his death a bearing of our judgement, his death a taking away of our sins, his death a bringing to us of forgiveness, his death an experiencing of death so that he might destroy its power.

All of this we will remember whether in our own reading and prayer, or as we access our local services online if we can, or the Cathedral or national services as we are able. In a time when there will be no gatherings and no socialising, only continued concern because of the Covid-19 virus and its impact on the whole world, we will be praying for the NHS and all those on the front line, we will be praying for those we know who are sick or bereaved, we will be praying for those facing the possibility of death. And as we pray for our own country, we will be praying for those countries we know, especially the Solomon Islands (also struggling with cyclones) and the Congo (Aru and Boga are also struggling with the absence of an infrastructure we take for granted).

It may be strange to offer now a verse that comes in the readings set for Morning Prayer in the week following Easter Sunday – who knows what that week will bring? Will there be some capacity for there to be some kind of “holiday at home”? I hope so – but this verse comes near the end of one of the great chapters in the Bible on the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15. I hope each day, at the moment, all of us can include some reading from the Bible and prayer. During that week after Easter, the readings from this chapter are spread out over each day (Monday v1-11; Tuesday v12-19; Wednesday v20-28; Thursday v 29-34; Friday v35-50; Saturday v 51-end).

The verse I offer you, both for this week and next, is 1 Corinthians 15:49:

“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust so we will bear the image of the man of heaven”

Last year I spoke on this verse at an Easter Assembly at Woodchurch C of E Academy on the Wirral. I asked them to notice that the verse doesn’t say we may or might bear the image of the man of heaven, but we will.

This is our hope and joy this Easter. We know, I think, about bearing the image of the man of dust; our mortality, our frailty, our sinfulness, these are all included in this description. How can we not know that reality in our present crisis?
 
But the hope that the Church has held out to the world since that first Good Friday and Easter, is that just because Jesus went all the way to the cross alone, and to the depths of death, experiencing it in the fullest form of its cruelty and desolation, we now would be in no doubt that his resurrection life would be ours too, begun now and completed then – bearing the image of the man of heaven, Jesus himself.

What a hope? What a promise? What a word for those facing their own death or the death of someone so dear to them?

We may be isolated from one another, but we are never isolated from him. As 1 Corinthians 15 goes on to say, “Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”. (55,56)

This is the truth summarised in the great Easter acclamation: “The Lord is risen; he is risen indeed. Alleluia!”

This Easter Sunday, whether in the evening when we maybe lighting a candle and putting it in the window or at some other time in the day, may we find a way of sharing this greeting with our neighbourhood; perhaps by some post on Facebook, or some recording on YouTube, or creating some poster in the window, or seeing if any of your neighbours might like to join you on each of your doorsteps as you join in the joyful shout together! You might want to join in the chorus of a great Easter hymn: “Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son; endless is the victory thou o’er death hast won”.
 
This Easter and Holy Week will be like none that I have ever known; but yet somehow the very isolation and danger we are now in from this virus, I believe will enable us to enter yet more fully into the truth and the victory Jesus has established for us and for the world.

With love in Him
 
+Keith
 
The Last Supper
Courtesy of Gordon Johnson & Pixabay
Before the lockdown regulations of course!!!!

Palm Sunday & Holy Week

Radio and TV broadcasts during Holy Week and Easter

With no Church Services for the foreseeable future, here are some of the Services that are being broadcast on Radio and TV during Holy Week and Easter…

A yew branch with light green new growth sprouting from th eends
Yew was used as an alternative to palms in this cooler climate

There is an interesting series on BBC Radio 4 during Holy Week  9.45am each morning (15mins)
          The Passion in Plants – 5 Episodes commencing Monday 6th April
   Monday   Pussy Willows and the Yew  – Palm Sunday  1/5
          Bob Gilbert traces the associations of British wild plants with the Easter Story beginning with Palm Sunday. No palms here, instead people carried fronds of goat willow and yew.
    Tuesday   The Last Supper and the Betrayal – Bitter Herbs and the Elder 2/5
          The Last Supper was the Feast of the Passover, when Jewish people eat the bitter herbs.
           And the Elder from which Judas, full of remorse following his betrayal, hanged himself
     Wednesday   The Road to the Cross – Hawthorn and Speedwell 3/5
           British wild plants and the Passion of Christ; the hawthorn crown, the road to the cross
           and the humble speedwell.
     Maundy Thursday   The Crucifixion – the Orchid and the Aspen 4/5
          The Passion of Christ through the folklore of wildflowers. The tree the cross was made from, and the plants that grew at its foot.
     Good Friday     The Resurrection – Pearlwort, Touch-me-not and the Alleluia Flower 5/5
          The plants that by tradition tell of the Resurrection: the pearlwort that cushioned Christ’s feet, the touch-me-not balsam and the alleluia flower.

Palm Sunday

BBC Radio 4  8.10am Sunday Worship “Walking alongside Jesus in suffering “
          Fr Dominic Robinson and Dr Theodora Hawksley reflect on the way Jesus accompanies   Christians spiritually when facing times of trial, suffering and bereavement.
TV BBC 1  10.45am  SUNDAY WORSHIP Hereford Cathedral
TV BBC 1    1.15pm  Songs of Praise – Glasgow Cathedral
BBC Radio  3.30pm   Choral Evensong – Magdalen College Oxford

Wednesday 8th April

BBC Radio 3 3.30pm  Choral Evensong  Church of the Incarnation, Dallas, Texas

Good Friday 10th April

  BBC Radio 3  2.00pm  Bach’s St John’s Passion

Easter Sunday

BBC Radio 4  6.05am  Dr Rowan Williams – retired Archbishop of Canterbury
– Reflections on the meaning of Easter
BBC Radio 4  6.35am Sunrise Service celebrating Easter morning
                      –  with Gospel Group Volney Morgan and New-Ye !
BBC Radio 4  8.10am Sunday Worship “Christ is Risen”
                                                    – with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
TV BBC 1  11.25am  SUNDAY WORSHIP Bangor Cathedral
TV BBC 1  1.15pm  Songs of Praise Katherine Jenkins celebrates Easter at a new church,
       –  St Luke’s ( C of E ) Gas Street in Birmingham
Radio 3  3.00pm Festal Evensong ( Norwich Cathedral )

See the prayer resources page for links to Chester Cathedral and other streamed Services including the National Virtual Service for Palm Sunday led by the Bishop of Manchester (on Facebook only).

From the Diocese Coronavirus Briefing No 4:

Sunday Prayer Candle

A white taper lights a white church candle

If you can join with others again at 7.00pm this Sunday night, lighting a candle in the window, please do, and as suggested by Bishop Keith, pray this psalm:

“I lift my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come?
 My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth"
Psalm 121

April edition of the Chester Diocesan News

For now, the CDN will only be produced as a digital download. You can get your free copy here.

Share a Prayer, Pray a Prayer

The Acting Bishop of Chester, Keith Sinclair, is inviting you to, “share a prayer and pray a prayer” as part of a diocesan-wide effort to support one another through the coronavirus crisis. 

Bishop Keith says: “We are all coming to terms with the new realities of the coronavirus pandemic. For us all this means staying at home, but even from our armchairs we can serve our communities in prayer.

“I want to encourage everyone, whatever your experience of prayer may be – seasoned regular or just dipping your toe – to try walking with God in prayer today.

“There is an abundance of prayer that can be said for our communities, NHS, police, schools, business leaders, and government, as well as for individuals and their personal circumstances.”

Prayer sheets made up of prayers requested for a wide range of situations are available at the Prayer Hub for people to download and pray in their own time. 

In addition, a discreet group of 12 volunteers is also praying day and night for sensitive situations that people may not wish to share with the wider diocese.

Are you in need of prayer?

Text or WhatsApp your prayer to 07513170210 and it will be shared with people in the diocese to pray. Or you can email your prayer to foxhill@chester.anglican.org. Prayers received will be distributed across the diocese to volunteers to pray in their own time as part of a daily rhythm of prayer.

Bishop Keith says: “To anyone who is in need of prayer, I want to say this: share it with others so that we can pray together for you and your loved ones. We all have personal concerns and anxieties, and prayer has always been a real comfort to me in a time of need.”

The team at Foxhill is helping to serve the diocese by coordinating this prayer effort after closing its doors in March. If you would like to request prayer for you and your personal circumstances, contact the team at Foxhill. Your prayer will be distributed around the diocese for volunteers to pray as part of their daily rhythm of prayer.

A man kneels in prayer silhouetted in the sunset infront of three crosses on a hill

Keeping well – Church of england update

The latest Coronavirus Briefing from Bishop Keith, and some tips to keep positive particularly during self-isolation.

From Bishop Keith
Dear Friends,

I don’t know how the rhythm of this new way of living is working out for you.

For some the frantic nature of the tasks they are being asked to do will seem never ending, especially those in the NHS and supporting services. For others the opposite, though I expect that anyone with school age children at home may be feeling they’ve exchanged one kind of frantic for another.

All of us, old or young, whatever our home situation, are coming to terms with the new realities of the coronavirus pandemic.

I hope the updates here from the archbishops and bishops and other parts of the Church are helpful. It is very important that those who need to read them do so, so we are all as far as we can be, keeping in step with one another, and hopefully following government advice to, “stay at home, support the NHS, and save lives.”

I’m so hoping whatever our experience of praying at home has been that the new government restrictions on our movement will actually help us become stronger on one area of our walk with God, Prayer.

There are many ways we can pray and there are wonderful resources out there. Here is one suggestion from me if anyone would like any help,

Take one hand and look at:Your thumb – pray for your church community and family;Your first finger – pray for the NHS and those medical researchers looking for a vaccine;Your second finger – pray for the Government and all those making tough decisions;Your third finger – pray for those in care homes and working with the most vulnerable in our communities; andLittle finger – pray for individuals known to you and yourself.Each prayer focus for each thumb and finger could itself open up into prayer personally, locally, nationally, and globally.

Take the other hand and read out loud:

“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12) and let your thumb and each finger represent one of these “clothes” we are to put on:Thumb – compassionFirst finger – kindnessSecond finger – humilityThird finger – meeknessLittle finger – patienceWhen you pray, put your hands together, and let the “clothing” of one hand touch the people and places in the other, and see what God does.

Maybe prayer like this could become part of our daily rhythm in this strange new time for us all. However we pray, it is the Lord who meets with us in listening and speaking.

With love in Christ,

+Keith

Top tips to tackle loneliness/isolation

Find simple ways to deal with loneliness and isolation – from the Church of England website.

  1. Pray. Light a candle, if safe, and pray for hope, faith and strength to keep loving and caring for each other during this time of struggle.
  2. Talk about how you feel. This may be difficult if you are self-isolating, but do use the telephone, internet, and social media. If you need to contact a counsellor this can be arranged by your GP, or via local agencies, or privately. The Samaritans are there 24 hours a day, every day, and it’s free to call them on 116 123.
  3. Focus on the things that you can change, not on the things you can’t.
  4. Look after yourself – physically, emotionally, spiritually. Plan in things that you enjoy at regular intervals during the day – a TV programme, a phone call, a book, a favourite dish, a game.
  5. Look after others. Even if only in small ways, but do what you can: a smile, a kind word, writing a letter or an email.

DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THESE TOP TIPS A 2-page PDF designed to be printed is available

A white taper lights a white church candle
Pray. Light a candle, if safe, and pray for hope, faith and strength to keep loving and caring for each other during this time of struggle.

Live Mothering Sunday Services

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is to lead a national broadcast as the Church of England responds to the challenge of becoming a “different sort of church” in the face of the challenge of coronavirus.

The Archbishop of Canterbury leading a service in the Lambeth Palace crypt.

The service, including prayers, hymns and a short sermon, will be broadcast online by the Church of England and broadcast on 39 local BBC radio stations and BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship his Sunday as congregations across the country find new ways of sharing worship together after public church services were put on hold. The service will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship at 0810and all local radio stations in England at 8am and will premier online at 9am on Sunday.

Churches of all major denominations will also be marking a national day of prayer and action this Sunday – Mothering Sunday – particularly remembering those who are sick or anxious and all involved in health and emergency services. 

Meanwhile local churches across the country are streaming acts of worship or sharing reflections online as part of an expansion of digital resources to meet the need for spiritual guidance and support. You can join in Chester Cathedral’s service here.

It comes after the Archbishops of Canterbury and York wrote to clergy on Tuesday advising them to put public services on hold until further notice in response to Government advice to restrict public gatherings to help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

But they made clear that, far from having to “shut up shop”, the Church of England will face the challenge by becoming a radically different kind of church rooted in prayer and serving others. This service, recorded in the crypt chapel at Lambeth Palace in London includes hymns sung by St Martin’s Voices, one of the choirs of St Martin-in-the-Fields

In his address the Archbishop will say: “In all of the current troubles, and they are very serious troubles, looking inwards will only reveal the limits of our own resources, and lead to deeper fear and selfishness.

“Acting in love found from God in Jesus Christ will do the exact reverse. As we look out from ourselves in love, we can enable people to find the place of their nurture, not their historic place but a new place where they meet God and find his consolation.

“As we share our consolation the mother love of God will enfold them. As we love the poor, go and give to a foodbank, call on someone who is isolated, do their shopping, pray with and for them from a distance, we will find that we are deeply consoled by our own gift of consolation.”

Light a candle of hope: A national call to prayer

Presidents of Churches Together in England have issued a call to prayer in the light of the Coronavirus pandemic. This is for all churches and people of prayer to join on Sunday 22nd March, Mothering Sunday. 

They write….

This Mothering Sunday, 22nd March, we are calling all churches to a National Day of Prayer and Action. At such a time as this, when so many are fearful and there is great uncertainty, we are reminded of our dependence on our loving Heavenly Father and the future that he holds.

At 7pm this Sunday, light a candle in the windows of your homes as a visible symbol of the light of life, Jesus Christ, our source and hope in prayer.

Whether you are continuing to worship as congregations or not, we have the great privilege and freedom to be able to call upon God, wherever we are, individually and corporately, for healing in our nation. We would pray for all in leadership at this time, making decisions about the containment of the COVID-19 virus, for those working in health and social care, and especially for the most vulnerable, whether elderly or those with underlying health conditions.

There are already stories being told of wonderful acts of kindness across neighbourhoods. Alongside your prayers, take the opportunity to telephone or email someone who is isolated, buy some additional food for your local foodbank, or offer to deliver shopping for an elderly neighbour. We may not be able to touch physically, but we can make connections in so many other ways.

In the meantime, do please attend to all the government health advice that will be issued, and look out for resources from your specific church governing bodies. At least for those of us in the global North, we do seem to be in unusual times, and wisdom and flexibility about worship gatherings are a key part of our Christian discipleship during this period.

We note that this call to prayer and action comes on Mothering Sunday: a time of thankfulness, remembering especially mothers who have served us, often in very costly ways. It is also a very mixed day for many. For some the remembrance is painful, and for others Mothering Sunday is a reminder of disappointment or loss. In many ways, this period under the shadow of the coronavirus will be prompting similarly diverse reactions and so it seems especially appropriate that the call to prayer is made this Sunday. At this time of uncertainty join in with the National Day of Prayer and Action, lighting a candle of hope*.

“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” 1 Peter 5:7
 
Presidents of Churches Together in England

Archbishop Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster
Revd Dr Hugh Osgood, The Free Churches Moderator
Archbishop Angaelos of London, CTE President for the Orthodox Churches
Pastor Agu Irukwu, CTE Pentecostal President

END

*Safety note – please take all necessary fire precautions when using a lit candle. Ensure you remain with the lit candle at all times, and do not leave it to burn if you leave the room. Ensure there are no fabrics or materials such as curtains near the candle. If you are able to use a small electric ‘candle’ instead, that will be safe to leave unattended.

A white taper lights a white church candle
“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” 1 Peter 5:7

Important Notice re Coronavirus

Every Briton over the age of 70 will be told “within the coming weeks” to stay at home for an extended period to shield them from coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said (15/03/2020). He tld the BBC the advice will not come into force just yet but when it does t will last “a very long time”.

In view of the fact that many of our congregation are over 70 we have taken the precautionary step of cancelling the Sunday Mass and Weekday Services. Until further notice.

We have provided some resources for you on a new online worship/prayer page, and hope they may be helpful.

Cafe reopening & concert

The cafe and shop will be reopening on Tuesday 7th January following the Christmas break.

The next Saturday morning concert is on the 11th January – 10am – 1pm. This month features organists Jack Vickers, Steve Birch and Gilly Oselton. Come and go as you please. Coffe or tea and cake just £2!

Candlelight Christmas Carol service

Orange flames from candles

Our popular annual candlelit carol service will take place on Saturday 21st Decmeber at 3.30pm.

Nine Lessons and carols by Stockport Choral Society. A wonderfully atmospheric break from the hectic shopping and preparations!

Christmas Organ Concert 2019

Our next free organ concert is on Saturday 14th December – special Christmas edition with festive tunes and massive raffle! Come and go as you like – hot drinks and cake available.