Weekly Email w/b 11th April 2022

Those with long memories might remember Holy week events a few years ago. We turned the local area into Jerusalem, and met in various different locations imagining what it must have looked like “on the ground” according to maps of Jerusalem. We walked through Holy Week in real time, and in the sort of geographical distances and directions from the time of Jesus. So Radbrook Green became where the Upper Room was situated, the area around the Meet Place became Gethsemane, and Holy Trinity Church became the temple complex. I still remember meeting on Easter morning in Shrewsbury Cemetery and celebrating the resurrection from there. I felt I entered into the story of Holy Week more vividly than I have ever done before.

I wonder what you might be doing this year to enter into the story at the heart of the Christian faith? For some it’s a piece of music, a gospel film or the familiar rhythm of the Bible’s passion accounts. For others it’s an Easter hymn, a sunrise communion, or a strategically placed palm cross which brings us back to the heart of the Christian faith. “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” is how the early church put it, experiencing for themselves faith, hope and love that first Easter. And ever since. Four people baptised on Easter morning here is a reminder of this!

You’ll find below various different ways of joining in this story this year. And, please, to be inviting friends and family to join us as well. There is much going on in our world and our lives which is troubling. May we each more fully know the promise of new life, and God’s gift of hope, these coming days.

Grace and peace.

Phil Cansdale
Vicar and Area Dean of Shrewsbury

It’s Easter coming up in a few days time. What a great opportunity to be speaking and living “faith, hope and love” at the heart of local communities.

Maundy Thursday sees our usual 10am service at Meole Brace. Then at 7pm we’ll be gathering as two local churches at Belle Vue Church (note venue!) for a simple meal of soup and Mediterranean fruits. We’ll be pausing at moments to remember the events of the last supper and sharing the bread and wine as Jesus did. We are asking people to let us know they are coming via the website or Church Office to help with catering numbers, with Wednesday 3pm as a deadline. There is no charge for this event, though donations towards costs will be invited.

Good Friday sees an all-ages gathering at 9.30am at Meole Brace Church. There’s then the Shrewsbury Passion Play at 10.30am starting in the Castle, continuing to St Mary’s Church courtyard and finishing in the Square. Then at 2pm is a more reflective service in Meole Brace Church for the “hour at the cross.” This year we’ll be hearing voices from the “Women of Holy Week”, adapted from some really great material by Paula Gooder.

Easter Day dawns bright and early at 6am with an outdoors service in the Millennium Gardens at the back of Meole Brace Church. Then our celebrations continue at 9am, 11am and 6.30pm at Holy Trinity, with the 11am featuring outdoor baptisms as part of the service. We’ll also be meeting at 10.30am in Radbrook Green and 11am outside the Meet Place on the Meole Estate.

For more details on all of these go to our website at www.trinitychurches.org.

Wow. We sent nearly £10,000 to support the Ukraine appeal this week, with 60% going to DEC and 40% going to support “Bread Trust” who have strong links in Shrewsbury and are working with churches on the ground in Ukraine. Your generosity is amazing. Thankyou.

Meanwhile we’ve been in a couple of meetings this week about helping communities support those coming over to the UK from Ukraine. The first refugees arrived earlier this week to a church family, and we continue to be wanting to find ways to get involved along with others in being a compassionate community.

A reminder of the good news for church life in Radbrook Green. After meeting monthly since lockdown restrictions allowed, we will now be meeting weekly from Easter Sunday, 17th April. We begin at 10.30am in the Community Centre. We continue to be exploring how best to resource this congregation, and share leadership as widely as possible.

We had such a great time at Messy Church last week, with well over ninety people here. It was great to send each family home with at least one Easter garden that tells this amazing story. It’s great news to have large numbers, but our Messy team is still so small that we would love to see more people from across the church support this valuable area of our ministry. Please speak to Cerys or Fi for more details.

The Electoral roll is a really important way of saying “I belong” to the life of the church, both locally and nationally. It seeks to be an indication of the strength of church life, recording the amazing family of God who make up churches across England seeking to be a Christian presence in every community.

You can now fill in the electrical roll online. So if you’re not currently on the roll then we’d love to encourage you to consider joining. You’ll find more details on the website, and by clicking below can fill in and sign the necessary form. If you have any questions or concerns then please do contact the Church Office in the usual way.

Find Out more about the Electoral Roll

Complete the Electoral Roll Online

For the second year running we will be hosting a table at the Holy Trinity Belle Vue plant sale on Saturday 21st May, with proceeds going to charity. Now is a good time to prepare spare seedlings, cuttings, divided perennials, etc. to bring for sale if you would like to contribute. Please contact Julian Durbin on 07507 602906 for further information.