Palm Sunday
TODAY
8am HOLY COMMUNION in Church
10am HOLY COMMUNION in Church and on YouTube
2pm to 4pm WARM SPACE ON SUNDAYS in the Church Hall
6pm EVENSONG in Church
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday 4th April 9.00am Morning Prayer in Church
Thursday 6th April 9.00am Morning Prayer in Church
Thursday 6th April
Maundy Thursday
7:30pm The Last Supper
Friday 7th April
Good Friday
10:00am The Crucifixion
11:00am Walk of Witness from church to the Ellendune centre
2:00pm Last Hour at the Cross. Guided reflections and meditations
Saturday 8th April
Holy Saturday
7:30pm Easter Vigil. The lighting of the new fire
Sunday 9th April
Easter Sunday
6.15am SONRISE’ at Barbury Castle (Main Car Park)
8am HOLY COMMUNION in Church
Preacher: Revd Phill Harrison
Sidesperson: Pat Lewis and Dee Vincent
10am HOLY COMMUNION in Church and on YouTube
Preacher: Revd Phill Harrison
Intercessor: John Henderson
Reading: Colossians 3. 1-4
Reader: Alan Gregory
Sidespersons: Alan & Kathy Gregory
Small Groups
If you would like to join a small group, please contact the leaders of the groups below and find out where there is space. We would love to have everyone involved in a small group.
| 22 Kellsborough Avenue | Mondays 10am-11.30
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Lillian Wicks
Louise Bessent |
| 12 Artis Avenue | Tuesdays at 7.30pm | Carolyn Kirk |
| Church Hall | Alternate Tuesday evenings | Nick Orman |
| The Vicarage | Wednesday evenings during term time. | Karen & Phill Harrison |
| Church Hall | Saturday men’s breakfast | Mike Mason |
Live streaming the 10am service
The 10am service will be live streamed on You Tube. Please visit our YouTube Channel on https://www.youtube.com/@WroughtonWichelstoweParChurch (or search for Wroughton and Wichelstowe Parish church) and press the ‘subscribe’ button.
Wroughton and WichelstoweParish ChurchROCKS!Monday 3rd April, 11.30 am Church Hall, Priors Hill, Wroughton craft, games, story LUNCH Bring the family, we cannot look after unaccompanied children. Parish Office 01793 812050 www.wroughton.com
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Easter Rocks
Our Easter family activity will be on Monday 3rd April beginning at 11.30 am. Many of you have already signed up to provide food, we would also like as many people as possible to come along and help by looking after an activity or game and chatting to parents and children. We will also need people to help with serving food and clearing up afterwards. We hope to share food at about 12.30 pm. If you are able to come please sign up on the sheet in church. More information speak to Barbara.
Easter Flowers
As usual we are asking for donations towards the Easter flowers that we have in the Church over the Easter period. If you would like to give please place your donation in the box at the back of the Church. Many thanks, Margaret Hurst
Easter SonRise
We will be joining together with Discovery Church and others for our normal Easter SonRise service at Barbury Castle on Easter Sunday. If you would like to join us, we will be beginning at 6.15 and dawn is at 6.19.
You are also invited to come back to Geoff Naylor’s house (pastor of Discovery Church), 62 Kerrs Way, for cooked breakfast after the service.
Please let Chris know if you are planning to come for breakfast so we have an idea of numbers. This is always a wonderful way to begin Easter and to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, so do join us if you can! Chris
Chrism Eucharist
The Diocesan Eucharist will be held on Maundy Thursday (6th April) at 10:30am at Bristol Cathedral. This service is not only when we share in the traditional Blessing of the Oils for use in initiation and healing (Baptism, Sickness and Chrism), but also an opportunity for us to come together in prayer, to break bread together, and to renew our commitment to the service of God in Christ. This year the service will be followed by a simple lunch as we say farewell to Bishop Lee. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Children’s Society
Many thanks to The Children’s Society box holders, this year’s box opening has raised £261.75. If anyone would like to become a box holder, please speak to Carolyn Kirk or to donate to the work of The Children’s Society please call 0300 303 7000 or go to www.childrensociety.org.uk
Volunteers needed for churchyard
Would you be able to offer to help with some occasional grass cutting, strimming or light hedge trimming in the Garden of Remembrance and limited other areas of the churchyard? Some areas will need more regular maintenance than Swindon Borough Council can provide. If you think you could help please speak to Rev Phill, Helena Thomas or Janet in the Parish Office. Thank you.
Lower churchyard tap
Visitors to the lower churchyard may be aware that the tap is currently missing. It was damaged by recent frosts and will be replaced when the risk of further frosts has passed and once a volunteer has had an opportunity to work out what’s needed, buy and fit a new one (it’s not an ‘ordinary’ tap it is now on order). The water supply belongs to the church and is offered as a gift to churchyard visitors; it is not affected by the transfer of maintenance to Swindon Borough Council. Anyone interested in the churchyard closure timeline can find more detail here: https://wroughton.com/?page_id=75
Carnival Saturday 8th July
This year Community Engagement and Open the Book have decided to combine to enter a walking float in the Carnival Procession. The theme is ‘gardening and growing’ so we have decided that we will represent the ‘Garden of Eden’ We will have plants and animals (snake) but no Adam and Eve. If you are available and able to walk the route, or able to help to make plants etc. please contact Barbara.
Litter Pick
We will be meeting on 15th April to collect litter from the edge of the village (including Brimble and Priors Hill). Please meet at the church Hall at 2 pm to join in. We will arrange another litter pick for the village centre in the near future.
RAIN GARDEN AND PLANTERS
Our new rain garden and planters are set up and working, but we need some more plants. If you are splitting any perennial plants in the next few weeks we’d be very glad if you could share some pieces with us. Please speak to Joan Orman for more information.
Knitting for Charity
If you would like a change from knitting squares or hats and gloves, consider making a blanket for the Neonatal unit at GWH. Blankets should be made from soft baby wool, not fluffy or glittery. They should be one piece, size 25 x25 inches and tightly knitted so there are no holes to entangle tiny fingers and toes. Any questions call Janet 01793 525856. Thank you.
Eco Top Tips – practical ways to take better care of God’s creation
April – In the bathroom
- Spend less time in the shower. Spending one minute less in the shower each day will save up to £7 off your energy bills each year, per person. Heating water uses a lot of energy. energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-energy-efficiency/energy-saving-quick-wins
- Turn off the tap while cleaning your teeth. The clean water that flows out of your tap needs energy in many stages of processing and transport before it gets to the tap. Don’t waste it!
Floodlighting
The Church will be floodlit on Sunday 2nd April by Bill & Doreen Greenshields in memory of their son, Andrew on his birthday; On Monday 3rd April by Nikki, John & Chris in memory of Maurice Stow.
Funerals
We commend to God’s care and keeping those who have, died recently, Peter Rice. We pray for all those who mourn the loss of a loved one.
| The Parish Office, Priors Hill, Wroughton, SN4 0RT Open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9am to 1.30pm
01793 812050 office@wroughton.com Revd Phill Harrison – Vicar 01793 812301 vicar@wroughton.com Revd Chris Hunter – Curate 01793 814987 curate@wroughton.com Church Twitter Account – @WroughtonWichel Find us on Facebook – Wroughton and Wichelstowe Parish Church Please follow us for all the latest updates from Wroughton Parish Church. |
Liturgical colours in church
Some people have been asking about the colours of the cloths and different things around church after they all changed to purple since the start of Lent. You can see this on the altar frontals, the vestments of the ministers and other hangings. This is because in some churches, including the Church of England, certain times of the year are represented by different colours. There is a lot of symbolism involved, but here is a brief guide!
There are four main colours used during the year (with extras for special days like using rose/pink on Gaudete Sunday in Advent and for Mother’s Day in Lent):
White is used for “festal periods” from Christmas Day to the Presentation of Christ (Candlemas) and from Easter Day to the Eve of Pentecost, for Trinity Sunday and some extras like All Saints’ Day and the festivals of saints not venerated as martyrs. It is also used for Marriages and is suitable for Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination. White symbolises purity.
Gold is sometimes used instead of white, particularly for Christmas, Easter and Trinity Sunday. This represents royalty and splendour.
Red is used during Holy Week (except at Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday, when White is used), on the Feast of Pentecost, may be used between All Saints’ Day and the First Sunday of Advent and is used for the Feasts of those saints venerated as martyrs. It is appropriate for any services which focus on the gift of the Holy Spirit, and is therefore suitable for Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination. Coloured hangings are traditionally removed for Good Friday and Easter Eve, but red is the colour for the liturgy on Good Friday. It is used to symbolise sacrifice, hence the connection with Jesus’ passion and with the death of martyrs.
Purple is the colour for Advent and from Ash Wednesday until the day before Palm Sunday. These are times when the church particularly focuses on reflection and preparation. It was historically a colour that represented great wealth, as purple dye was very expensive to produce. For this reason, Jesus was clothed in a purple cloak when he was mocked and beaten before his crucifixion, which feeds into our use of it in these seasons. Purple has come to represent suffering and penitence.
Green is used from the day after the Presentation until Shrove Tuesday, and from the day after Pentecost until the eve of All Saints’ Day, except when other provision is made. It may also be used, rather than red, between All Saints’ Day and the First Sunday of Advent. These times are “Ordinary Time” because they are numbered ordinally, so we count “the first Sunday after Trinity” and so on. It symbolises hope, life and growth.
As with so much of what we do, the use of colour is intended to symbolise aspects of our worship and enhance what we do in church. These things should help us to reflect on different parts of the story of the bible and of what God has done for us and continues to do for us.
