What a joy seeing our church reopened in time for Palm Sunday! Our wonderful Service of the Palms including having them blessed whilst held aloft after the resounding ‘All Glory glory, laud and honour to our Redeemer King’. We normally sing this whilst processing around the outside of the church but as this was banned under current restrictions, we instead heard the well-known words beautifully sung by our Cantor Laura. This was followed by Macmillan’s St Anne’s Mass which is so much in the mood for a solemn service.
The whole of the Passion, this year from St Mark’s Gospel was read by a succession of readers . The very moving hymn ‘A Purple robe, a crown of thorns’ was intersperced within the readings to a new tune again sung by our soloist, and without a sermon! The service was completed and u-tubed within an hour with ‘Ride on, ride on in majesty’ a fitting conclusion after which the congregation tried their best to socially distance themselves – so difficult after a three month break since last being open at Christmas but there were definitely no hugs which will please our masters!
And now to the remainder of Holy week with a 10am Maundy Thursday Eucharist and a liturgy for Good Friday planned for 2.00pm in a service put together by a congregational member together with Andrea and within the capabilities of our organist! We shall of course shout ‘He is Risen’ at the beginning of our Easter Day service at 10.00am and what more can we say than that?