Dear Friends
We will be praying that you have a blessed Holy Week, and a wonderful joyful Easter Day. Our livestream service during Holy Week will be at 12 noon on Good Friday – and you would be very welcome to join us live, or catch it later on.
Thank you so much for your love and support, which means so much to us, as on Monday 17th April we begin Phase 7 of our building work which at the heart is the renovation of the Marsh Lounge. The whole Phase will take seven months. It won’t be a huge disruption to guest experience as we have made plans!
Also on Monday 17th April, our new Programme (combined with our latest Momentum) should be coming through your letterbox, and will be live on our website during the morning. The new Programme takes us up to end February 2024.
The advert for a Chaplain is on our website. If you know of anyone for whom this might be the next step – please do pass on the information. The closing date is Monday 24th April.
Community is in good heart, on the whole, but we would still very much value your prayers for the community and for new members to join the adventure.
On the website you will see that our next online quiet day is on Thursday 25th May, and that will have a Pentecost theme.
Please also see here the latest blog from Shaun on how Scargill is a spacious place.
Di and I happened to be in Durham and we visited St Brandon’s church, a most beautiful space. So here is Di’s reflection on our experience. Enjoy!
Diane writes:
Recently we visited St Brandon’s – Brancepeth Parish Church near Durham. There we found the most exquisite, amazing altar window. The church has Saxon roots although most of the present building dates from 1075. After a major fire in 1998 the exterior of the building was preserved and the church was reordered, combining the ancient with ‘an elegant modern reordering’ which includes the Paradise Window. There was such peace in the church that at first I just stood before the window for quite a while, looking at, looking through and beyond the flowers, then moved away, only returning later to take these photographs.
The information, ‘very elegantly displayed’ next to the window, says, ‘Jesus spoke of ‘paradise’ as a place to which we may travel at the end of our journey through this life, to be at peace with God.’ It goes on to explain that the ‘paradise flowers also… refer to the story of St Brandon … who travelled far and wide.. and may well have visited the Canary Islands’ !!. It concludes with ‘The flowers in the window both reflect Brandon’s story and speak about Christian hope.’
Tomorrow will be Palm Sunday with the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the start of our journey through Holy Week, to the cross, where all seems lost. Perhaps. because we have the knowledge of Easter Sunday, we skim over the words Jesus says to the criminal hanging, dying beside him:
“I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” /
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43
I trust these words and this window offer you the hope, joy and peace of Easter Sunday that they offered to me.
Let us be thankful that we know the joy of the risen Christ which speaks of hope and healing.
Let us remember, this Easter, to prayer for those who seek to know God’s love and peace; for those who need the hope that comes with the joy of the risen Lord.
With love and prayers from