News from the churches

LOVELY THINGS happen when the Christian churches of Birstall and Wanlip get together, and so it proved for the Passover Supper in St. Theresa's Social area, where we were met by the sight of beautifully set tables with wine and candles.

There must have been an incredible amount of scrubbing, peeling, chopping, slicing and cooking involved to give everybody a wonderful meal, which was accompanied by the age-old prayers and rituals which keep us connected to our faith and to each other.

Our churches were also together for the Easter Walk of Witness through Birstall on Good Friday, culminating in Hot Cross buns, again at St Theresa's.

Many homes in Birstall now have lovely knitted Easter chicks and/or rabbits - ingeniously made to encompass a Creme Egg, the sale of which raised a whopping £300, part of which has gone to provide a fridge in St. James' kitchen (the Howard Room).

St James Church is remaining open to be used as a Warm Space on Tuesday afternoons until the summer, and now the church has burst into colour for Easter with the lovely fresh flowers of spring, it is a very welcoming space indeed, thanks to our expert flower arrangers working their magic.

Donations for Ukraine are still very welcome; from First Aid kits to warm clothing, toiletries to tinned and dried foods, which will all be taken to the Ukraine Centre in Leicester and thence directly to Ukraine. There is a collecting box in the area just inside the main door of the church, along with sundry re-cycling boxes!

The Monday Group enjoyed an entertaining and informative talk by Ian Rogerson, all about cheese!

With samples! Who knew that there is a charcoal cheese? Black, as its name suggests, and looking more like Black Pudding than cheese, but delicious! We have an interesting year to look forward to in the new programme, and new members will be very welcome. However, there is no meeting in May this year.

From Birstall Parish Churches

THE TIME of Lent is a special time of year for all our churches in Birstall, and as usual, we held some special events such as an Easter-themed lunch and the walk of witness through the village on Good Friday.

Each of the worship services during the forty days of Lent had a reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, and how we can help make the world in which we live to become a better and more wholesome place. Each week a different symbol is added to the foot of the cross: see if you can spot them in the photo on the other page. After Easter, we rejoice that Jesus is risen from the dead, and the drama of the day of Pentecost. Usually, our services are quite lively during this time of celebration, and we all look forward to the new life that the season of spring brings to us, as well as the improving weather!

From Birstall Methodist Church

Coronation

This month marks the historic event of the coronation of King Charles III. Handel’s Coronation Anthem, ‘Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet anointed Solomon King’, has been included in all coronation services since George II’s in 1727. The event of Solomon’s anointing is recorded in 1 Kings 1:32-40 when special oil was used. The oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and meant that God was setting apart or consecrating that person for a specific role as Prophet, Priest or King. Some men in Israel’s history held two of these three roles, like Samuel (prophet and priest) and King David (prophet and king) but none all three, as this was something that only the Lord Jesus could do and the others were only pointing forward to Him. The word ‘Christ’ is the Greek version of the Hebrew ‘Messiah’, meaning ‘anointed’. Our hymn this month focuses on the kingship of Jesus. It is ‘All hail the power of Jesus’ Name!’ and was initially written by Edward Perronet (17261792) but later revised by Dr. John Rippon (1751-1836). Perronet was from a family of French immigrants, becoming a Church of England clergyman in Kent and who worked with the Methodists. Rippon was a Devon man, who laboured for over sixty years in a Baptist church in London. Their joint effort seeks to affirm the Kingship of Christ and it has been said that so long as there are Christians on earth it will continue to be sung – and after that, in heaven. It begins by calling on the angels to ‘bring forth the royal diadem to crown Him Lord of all’ and then calls on all groups of people to acknowledge Jesus, and the fifth verse encourages ‘Let every kindred, every tribe, on this terrestrial ball, to Him all majesty ascribe and crown Him Lord of all.’

At the anointing of King Solomon, Benaiah, a fearless warrior and one of King David’s most trusted commanders, said to David: ‘As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may He be with Solomon.’ We would echo this prayer for King Charles and ourselves: may we, as did the late Queen, look to the Lord Jesus for His mercy, grace, wisdom, guidance and support. God save the King!

You are most welcome to join us for our Sunday services but will need to contact us for venues, as there are two Bank Holidays in May and we are not able to use the Day Centre on these occasions. http://www.birstallbaptistchurch.org.uk or 0116 2214883

From Birstall Independent Baptist church

IN MARCH, parishioners were saddened to hear that our Parish Priest, Fr. Ted Mullen was to retire with immediate effect, on health grounds. We shall miss him greatly, and we send him our prayers and good wishes for the future.

At the present time, we do not have a permanent replacement. Fortunately, our committed teams of parish volunteers at St Theresa’s and Sacred Heart, Rothley, have been working extra hard behind the scenes to ensure that the parishes function as normally as possible in the interim.

We have been assisted at week-end maintaining parish life, in particular Daphne and Hazel.

One event that we were pleased could go ahead was the Passover Meal, or Seder. The form we use as Christians is based on the prayers and Bible readings, with the symbolic foods and herbs used in the traditional Jewish celebration. Our thanks to Gordon and Brian for leading the service, and the “Two Hazels Team” who prepared and served the delicious meal.

During Holy Week, we had our usual services, from Maundy Thursday through to Easter Day, recalling the events from the Last Supper to Christ’s death and Resurrection. Fr Philip Sainter was fortunately able to say all Masses over the Triduum at St Theresa’s and at both churches on Easter Sunday. Much work goes on to prepare the church as the days progress. The music led by the musicians and choir and beautiful flower arrangements which bedecked the churches, added to the joyful atmosphere of the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Masses. Again, thanks to everyone involved.

Fundraising: an Easter egg raffle raised welcome funds for the parish. Parishioners were generous in their support of Richard Miranda’s fundraising on behalf of Brain Research UK, firstly with a Hamper Raffle (kindly donated by Tesco) and then sponsorship for running in the London Marathon recently. Well done Richard!

Whilst we are without a permanent parish priest, it is particularly important that people refer to the weekly newsletter for up-to-date information about services, news and events. The newsletter can also be found on the parish website: st-theresasacredheart.co.uk

From St Theresa’s Church

Masses by several local priests and our Eucharistic Ministers have celebrated weekday Liturgy services. Our grateful thanks go to all who are involved in

Pics: the Passover Meal