Our Palm Sunday Procession
Photographs by Ian Thwaites
March was a busy month in the church calendar and the two weeks leading up to Easter this year were full of activities in all our church schools within MLWC Parish. Ness, as our schools co-ordinator and Chaplin was joined by volunteers from within the parish to lead ‘Experience Lent’ – workshop style sessions run at St Matthias and St Peter’s churches. All the children at St Mathias and Northleigh Primary Schools learnt about Lent, the connection to Easter and hot-cross buns. This was a great week for the children and the feedback from the schools was very positive.
Most services this year were held in The Ascension Church, although we began Palm Sunday at St Peter’s with a short service and a procession with our beautiful silver cross and large palm’s, down the hill to The Ascension Church. Using modern technology everyone in the church could watch the small service and procession. It was a lovely way of linking the two congregations together.
Stations of the Cross on the Monday evening was not simply a reflection on the journey to the cross, but members of the congregation took part and enacted the gospel reading, making it feel very relevant to today.
A new thought-provoking workshop was led by the Revd. Dr. Alastair McKay on Interactive reflections of ‘Christ Carrying the Cross,’ an artwork from the National Gallery (Italian, Venetian, about 1500.)
On Good Friday there was a ‘Walk of Witness’ where churches members walked from their churches and gathered together in Great Malvern Priory for a service of ‘Unity.’ The grounds were full with people, and banners from all Christian churches across Malvern.
Our gentle Taize service was conducted twice in Holy Week. Especially poignant was the Maundy Thursday Eucharist, followed by The Watch, interspersed with Taize worship, leaving only the candles on the Altar to be a light in the darkness.
Easter Sunday in St Matthias Church was a very happy event with lots of families and the children taking part in the service. It was indeed a lovely celebration and a wonderful way to recognise the Risen Lord, fellowship within the church and a season of new beginnings.
During the Easter holidays, Ness and Sarah organised an Easter ‘Family Craft Workshop’. This was free event, open to all families, some of whom already attend the Thursday Family Club. This event saw local families making wonderful Easter crafts and having a lovely few hours together. One of our regular Ukrainian families brought us a traditional sweet bread, representing the Holy Trinity, and painted hard boiled eggs that children throw at each other. It was very special to share and learn about this Ukrainian tradition.
