Easter Church Services at Royston Parish Church
Passiontide begins – 17th March
The two weeks before Easter are known as the season of Passiontide when we can really begin to focus on Jesus’ road to Calvary.
Palm Sunday – 24th March @ 9am and 10.30am
On Palm Sunday we remember the day Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. We call this day Palm Sunday because people lined his route waving palms and singing ‘Hosanna to the king’. We will celebrate this day with a said Communion Service at 9am and a sung Communion Service at 10.30am.
Maundy Thursday – 28th March @ 8pm
On the Thursday before Jesus died, he celebrated the Jewish festival of the Passover with his twelve disciples. As they shared bread and wine, Jesus gave them a command to break bread and drink wine together in his memory. He also shocked his disciples by washing their feet, an act usually done by a slave; by doing this Jesus demonstrated that we must serve one another.
The term ‘Maundy’ comes from the Latin, “mandatum”, meaning command, and on that special evening we will follow Jesus’ command by re-enacting the Last Supper with a sung Communion Service. The service will begin at 8pm and will be followed by a silent vigil in the Church as we remember Jesus when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. All are most welcome.
Good Friday – 29th March @ 10am, 12noon, 7pm
After a dubious trial Jesus was sentenced to death by crucifixion. He was tortured and forced to carry the horizontal piece of timber, which formed part of the cross, to a nearby hill in Jerusalem, called Calvary. He was nailed to the cross, where he hung for three hours before he died, after which time he was taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb.
At 10am a ‘Hot Cross Buns and Praise’ for Families with craft activities
At 12noon, we will hold a simple service of the word with hymns and an address.
At 7pm – a showing of St. John’s Passion, Bach.
Easter Eve – Saturday 30th March – 8pm
Jesus lay in his tomb, his disciples had scattered, terrified the same fate would come to them. The man they thought would be their Messiah was lying dead and all seemed lost. Unlike the disciples, we have the luxury of knowing that the joy of Easter Day is just a few hours away; we spend this day quietly preparing ourselves and the church for Easter Day, continuing to thank God for the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.
At 8 pm we will have a Tenebrae Service
Easter Day – 31st March @ 6.30am, 9am and 10.30am
In the darkness of the Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene went to Jesus’ tomb to pay her respects. To her surprise she found that the tomb was empty. She ran to find two other disciples who witnessed what she had described. They ran away and Mary saw two angels where Jesus had been laid. She then saw a man who she thought was a gardener, but when he spoke her name, she recognised him to be Jesus – he was alive! She ran back to the disciples to tell them the Good News. Through God’s boundless love for humankind, death was overcome and Jesus was raised to new life. On Easter Sunday, we start at dawn, just as Mary Magdalene had done on the first Easter Day.
As the sun rises, we celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection; firstly, we welcome in the day at 6.30am with a simple Sunrise Service in The Priory Memorial Gardens around a fire.
We will then meet in Church for a said Communion Service at 9am and a Family Communion Service at 10.30am where we worship the risen Lord, give thanks to God for his love for humankind in giving his Son to die for us all, and praise him for his power over death in raising Jesus from the dead.
www.roystonparishchurch.org.uk
Easter Church Services at Royston Methodist Church
Maundy Thursday Service – 28th March @ 7.30pm
Good Friday Service – 29th March @ 9.30am
Followed by the Walk of Witness to Royston Town Centre.
Easter Day Service – Sunday 31st March @ 10.30am
With Holy Communion, Royston Methodist Church.
www.royston-methodist.org.uk – Royston Methodist Church & Church Hall, Queens Rd, Royston SG8 7AU
Lent Lunch – Wednesday 6th March @ 12noon to 1.30pm
Catholic Church Hall – All Welcome.
Lent Lunch – Wednesday 13th March, 12noon to 1.30pm
Catholic Church Hall – All Welcome.
www.royston-methodist.org.uk – Royston Methodist Church Hall, Queens Rd, Royston SG8 7AU
