Trinity United Reformed Church Wimbledon
The first introductory rehearsal for this year’s musical, “Whistle Down the Wind”, is on Friday 1 April at 7.30pm in the church.
Everyone is invited. All ages needed to be in the choir, on stage, or part of the production team.
Performance dates: 17 and 18 June 2016.
Come along and join the fun. For more details speak with Roger Jones.
(Remember the clocks go forward this morning)
The Church’s great celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead
06:00 Dawn Service at St Mark’s church, Wimbledon, followed by breakfast. All welcome.
11:00 Easter Celebration with Holy Communion – a service for all ages
There is no Evening Service on Easter Day
The Good Friday service today was followed by coffee and hot cross buns in beautiful Spring sunshine.
Our Good Friday service begins at 10:30.
Coffee and hot cross buns will be served after the Service.
Good Friday is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday. On this day Christians commemorate the passion, or suffering, and death on the cross of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Many Christians spend this day in fasting, prayer, repentance, and meditation on the agony and suffering of Christ on the cross.
The biblical account of Jesus’ death on the cross, or crucifixion, his burial and his resurrection, or raising from the dead, can be found in the following passages of Scripture: Matthew 27:27-28:8; Mark 15:16-16:19; Luke 23:26-24:35; and John 19:16-20:30.
The terrorist attacks this week in Brussels are the most violent to hit Europe since the November attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Yet this is not the first, or even the second or third, terrorist attack in that time. We must not forget Bamako, Tunis, San Bernadino, Istanbul, Jakarta, Ouagadougou, Ankara, Mogadishu and Grand-Bassam, and Ankara and Istanbul for a second time, let alone the on-going and daily struggles in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza. The litany of death and violence in our world, and on our own streets, has the danger to make us sink into the helplessness and hopelessness of the situation.
Yet it is for times of doubt and darkness like Brussels, Ankara and Paris that Easter provides a glorious message of encouragement. Through the darkness of despair came the Easter dawn. It is impossible to believe in the Resurrection and at the same time believe that the darkness of this world will overthrow the light of Christ. At the empty tomb, we know that right is might, and that evil, in the long run, will succeed only in its own death and destruction.
For us, who stand this side of the cross in the light of the Easter revelation, there is no greater calling than to do our part in bringing about God’s Kingdom of justice and joy, peace and love. In his rising, the Living Christ shows the triumph of life over death, the complete and final triumph which gives us more than hope. In the Living Christ we have the eternal promise that in the end, always and everywhere, Life wins.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!
A blessed Easter to you all.
Revd Nicola Furley-Smith
Moderator
Holy Week is the most important week of the Church’s year. We walk with Jesus from the triumph of the entry to Jerusalem, through the intimacy of the Last Supper, and the desolation of his death on the cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Please join in this week as fully as you are able, praying that God will bring this story alive in your life today.
Sunday 20 March – Palm Sunday
10:00 Palm Sunday Procession
Meet outside Tesco in Wimbledon Town Centre for a Palm Service and procession
11:00 Palm Sunday Worship
We return to our newly decorated church this week for Palm Sunday. The Service will include the distribution of palm crosses to everyone, and music from Haydn’s “Seven Last Words from the Cross”.
18:30 Evening worship
Monday 21 – Wednesday 23 March
19:30 A short meditation each evening of Holy Week in the Mansel Road Centre
24 March – Maundy Thursday
19:30 Service of Holy Communion in the church
Friday 25 March – Good Friday
10:30 Good Friday service. Coffee and hot cross buns served afterwards
Sunday 27 March – Easter Day
(Remember the clocks go forward this morning)
06:00 Dawn Service at St Mark’s church, Wimbledon, followed by breakfast. All welcome.
11:00 Easter Praise and Communion – a service for all ages
There is no Evening Service on Easter Day
“Now a regular addition to Easter in London, The Passion of Jesus is a re-creation of the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, put on for free for the public in Trafalgar Square on Good Friday.
Featuring a cast of over a hundred, all donning period costumes, a donkey and horses, the 90-minute show attracts up to 20,000 people for each of its two performances at 12noon and 3.15pm and undoubtedly has a big impact on the watching crowds as they witness the tale of Christ’s betrayal by Judas and his trial before Pontius Pilate.” London Town
For further information click here.
The collections taken at our Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Services will be in support of the Red Cross Syrian Appeal.
The Syria conflict has passed the five-year point and there is no end in sight. Fighting has forced more than 10 million people from their homes.
At the heart of the crisis are innocent civilians. Read more about the Appeal here.
Every month British Red Cross gets food, water, blankets, soap and other essential help to people caught up in Syria’s terrible conflict.
They help people deal with the psychological impact of years of violence, and have worked to fix water networks and health services, cutting the risk of deadly diseases.
Much of the help is given by staff and volunteers of our partner, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Their reputation for neutrality means help can be given where other aid agencies cannot.
But these brave men and women still face huge risks – dozens have been killed in the line of duty.
The British Red Cross has been working with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent since 2004, helping the organisation prepare for a range of disasters.
Support for refugees outside Syria
Millions of people have fled from Syria to neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.
Many have found themselves separated from loved ones, struggling to find decent shelter or a way to earn a living.
British Red Cross is working with partners in the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement to give these refugees vital help too.
The suffering is intense and people urgently need your help.
- £50 could help feed a family for two months.
- £60 could provide 16 thermal blankets for those in need.
- £90 could buy 6 mattresses to help people sleep.
Please support the appeal.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings this week – join us for a short time of reflection in preparation for Easter.
7.30pm in the Mansel Road Centre. All most welcome.
The Foodbank urgently need donations of:
Tinned meat
Tinned fish
Tinned peaches
Tinned fruit salad
Please donate a tin or two if you can.