Womens' World Day of Prayer _
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Please see our Sunday Services plan

PROGRAMME FOR
THE SEASON OF LENT

Hopefully by the time you read this a full and detailed programme for the season of Lent will be available in all of the churches in our parish, but in the meantime the programme currently looks like this:

LENT STUDY:
A series of six evenings in the Leintwardine Centre Reading Room featuring half hour talks by the late Anthony de Mello on DVD entitled ‘A Way to God for Today’. Although the series of talks is connected and the greatest benefit is to hear them all, it is possible to come to some rather than all. The way to God, explains de Mello, is approached through ‘silence’, ‘peace’, ‘life’, ‘love’, ‘freedom’, and ‘joy’. Anthony de Mello was a Jesuit priest known throughout the world for his writings and spiritual conferences. A native and lifelong resident of India, he died suddenly in 1987 at the age of 56. His many books have been translated into more than 35 languages.
The series begins on Thursday 21 February at 7.30, and continues on Monday 25 February, Monday 4 March, Monday 11 March, Thursday 21 March, and ends on Monday 25 March.
An optional donation of £1 per person is requested to meet the weekly hire of the Reading Room.
If there is a demand, the series will be repeated in the daytime and details of this will appear in the Beano and the Lent leaflet.

ASH WEDNESDAY
As in previous years, there will be a series of reflective services on the morning of Ash Wednesday lasting for half an hour. The venues for these services are the same as last year – Adforton Church 8.30, Wigmore Church 9.30, Downton Church 10.30. In the evening at 6.30 there will be a service including the Imposition of Ashes at Leintwardine Church.

LENT LUNCHES
We hope to hold a series of Lent Lunches in support of a charity (last year we supported ‘SmileTrain’) so if you would be willing to host a lunch between 12.00 and 2.00 please let Mike Catling know. The lunches have usually taken place on a Wednesday in order to provide a consistent programme, but arrangements can be made that suit the host. Merry Morris has kindly co-ordinated these lunches for a number of years and thanks are due to her, but she would appreciate someone else taking on this responsibility this year.
HOLY WEEK
At Leintwardine Church on the evening of Wednesday 27 March at 7.30 we welcome The Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School Chamber Choir conducted by Dr Stefan Scot with organ accompaniment by Paul James, who will lead the congregation in the ancient Tenebrae Service. The word ‘tenebrae’ is Latin for shadows. The purpose of the Tenebrae service is to recreate the emotional aspects of the passion story. The service was originally designed for Good Friday, but it can be used for Maundy Thursday, and in our case, on Wednesday in Holy Week as well.
Traditionally the service may include solemn hymns, a sermon, and Communion, but the core of the Tenebrae service works like this: It starts out with the church in candlelight. There are as many candles as there are readings, plus a white Christ candle. The readers go up one at a time, read their assigned selections, and extinguish one of the candles, until only the Christ candle remains. Then someone reads the first part of Psalm 22, which Jesus quoted on the cross. Then the Christ candle is put out, leaving the congregation in near total darkness. At this point, the service ends. There is no benediction and the people leave in silence. The purpose of the service is to recreate the betrayal, abandonment, and agony of the events and it is left unfinished, because the story isn’t over until Easter Day.
On the following evening at Wigmore Church (Maundy Thursday) at 7.30 there will be a service of Holy Communion and finishing with the traditional ‘stripping of the altar’.
On Good Friday morning, Leintwardine Church will hold an informal, interactive act of worship at 10.00 followed by a local walk that finishes back at church with soup and bread. Then in the afternoon at 2.00 there will be a meditative service for one hour.
On Easter Eve, Adforton Church will host a Taizé-style service (time to be confirmed) and details of this service will follow.
Easter Day services on Sunday 31 March will be notified nearer the time.

Women’s World Day of Prayer.
Friday March 1st 2013
‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’

The service begins at 1.45pm in the Methodist Chapel, Leintwardine.

This year’s service has been prepared by the Christian women of France,
a country that many of us are familiar with. In Britain too we have many migrant workers, asylum seekers and others hoping to find a welcome.

This thought-provoking service will help us to understand their needs and how we can welcome the stranger into our communities.

We will finish the afternoon by inviting you to share a cup of friendship and some mouth-watering, home-made délices de France.

Everyone welcome – do come and join us.

‘There are no strangers; there are only women and men
who have not yet met’ (Talmud)
If you would like to know more about WWDP please contact either:
Jean Williams 01568 770384 or Cynthia Prior 01547 540441