FROM THE VICAR

My dear People,

Yesterday I was playing cricket on the vicarage lawn; today we've ve had a blizzard and everything is beautifully festooned in white. What variety of weather we have to be prepared for in the Easter holidays! Some say that variety is the spice of life; but this is one of the criticisms levelled at the new Communion Service - it allows for too many variations, they say. But this is intentional; it is an experimental service on trial for a set period. After further discussion with the P.C.C., I have decided to use this service at the Parish Communions in April, May and June; after which I hope to call a meeting of all communicants.

I am fortunate this year in having persuaded a friend, Rev. Mark Everitt, Chaplain of Merton College, Oxford, to spend Holy Week with us. He will be helping in various ways, including the address on Wednesday evening and the Good Friday Devotional Service. Please do your utmost to make him feel at home. In church is a Lent display by our schoolchildren, Juniors and Infants, with a missionary theme. Included are several spontaneous prayers, one of which begins "Dear God, Thank you for the missionaries". How right. Presumably the writer's thoughts went not only to their sense of mission but also to the great sacrifice that this usually involves - the giving up of a well-paid job and a stable home, the offering of their whole selves. Here is a pointer for us. Our thoughts at Easter should also be ones of deep thanksgiving for a great sacrifice. If these are to be real we all ought to make an honest effort to relive the tension and agony of Christ's last days on earth, finally to rejoice with Him at the Lord's Table on Easter morning.

Your sincere friend and Vicar,

JOHN GREEN.

EASTER DAY

7.00 a.m.

8.00 a.m. - Holy Communion.

12 noon

10.00 a.m. Children's Service.

11.00 a.m. Mattins and Sermon.

6.30 p.m. Evensong and Sermon.