Sunday 2nd April 2023
Our Journey begins:-
Palm Sunday - the walk of glory
Palm Sunday, the last Sunday before Easter celebrates the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, his followers scattering palm branches at his feet and shouting,
Hosanna to the Son of David
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest heaven
Matthew 21 v 9
A Benefice Holy Communion Service was held at All Hallows' Church, attended by over fifty parishioners from Holy Cross Church, Haltwhistle and St Cuthbert's Church, Greenhead as well as those from All Hallows' Church.
Palm Crosses were distributed on arrival, the service began with a procession into church led by Rev'd Canon Steve Wright to the singing of the hymn ' Ride on, Ride on in Majesty. Steve's address centered around our 'Walk with Jesus durng Holy Week'
The Palm Crosses were laid on the altar during the service and raised in glory during the final hymn.
A joyous service shared together.
Monday 3rd April 2023- walking in devotion
A service of prayers, poems and reflection, led by Mrs Anne Galbraith and Mrs Carol Adams was held at St Cuthbert's Church, Greenhead
The poems, read by Carol included The Coming by RS Thomas and GK Chesterton's 'The Donkey'
Anne, in her reflection considered the question ' why would Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey instead of a horse, which would have symbolised majesty and power but, Jesus came as a kIng of peace not as a king riding into battle.
The concluding words of Anne's reflection are as follows:
'Jesus embraced the poor and sick people during his time here on earth. His choice of a donkey instead of a horse was God's way of saying that he came as a king who will serve and save the oppressed'
The donkey is a symbol of service, suffering, peace and humility.
Tuesday 4th April 2023 - walking alone
A service of prayers, poems and reflection led by Mrs Anne Galbraith and Mrs Carol Adams was held at All Hallows' Church.
The Good Shepherd and his sheep
Anne, in her reflection spoke about comparisons that have been made between sheep and humans. A shepherd would say sheep are intelligent and social animals but vulnerable, frightened by sudden loud noises and events and are unable to outrun or fight against predators, A good shepherd will move his flock so that they do not overgraze a perticular area.
Are we like sheep? We are intelligent, we function best in a community and we are vulnerable to threatening forces of all different kinds. The analogy holds good, because we need God as our shepherd in the same way as the sheep need their shepherd.
Anne further developed this analogy and at the end of the reflection Psalm 23 was sung..
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
Wednesday 5th April 2023 - walking in darkness
Tenebrae, the Latin word for Darkness.
A shortened version of the Tenebrae service was held at St. Cuthbert's Church, Beltingham led by Rev'd Canon Steve Wright.
Tenebrae is a service of psalms and readings, candles are mounted on a free standing candle holder and extinguished one by one during the service. The extinguishing of the candles symbolises the coming darkness of Jesus' death. Readings were from Lamentations and Hebrews, the psalms and readings interspersed with brief periods of silent prayer.
The Vicar sang the Benedictus following which the last candle was hidden behind the altar. After the final prayer the service ended with a loud noise, the last candle was returned from its hiding place and by its light the minister and congregation departed in silence.
But as for me,my prayer is to you O Lord
At an acceptable time, O God
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me
Psalm 69 v 13
Thursday 6th April 2023
Maundy Thursday - walking in fellowship
A service of Holy Communion presided over by Rev'd Canon Steve Wright was held at Holy Cross Church. This service which commemorates The Last Supper is followed by the Stripping of the Altar.
I give you a new commandment that you love one another
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another
John 13 v 34
Friday 7th April 2023
Good Friday - the walk of sacrifice
Stations of the Cross, this service held at All Hallows' Church was introduced by Rev'd Canon Steve Wright.
The Stations of the Cross originated when early Christians visited Jerusalem and wanted literally to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, tracing the path from Pilate's house to Calvary. .
They would pause for prayer and devotion at various points. The number of stations has varied immensely over the centuries from as few as five to as many as thirty six.
The traditional number of fourteen was established by Clement X11 in 1731. Owing to the increasing ecumenical popularity of this devotion there have been attempts to create a wholly spiritual set on which to focus.
The stations this service followed are based on those celebrated by Pope John Paul11 on Good Friday in 1991 and are in the Church of England Common Worship Book.
Sunday 9th April 2023
Easter Sunday
A service of Holy Communion was held at All Hallows' Church presided over by Rev'd Canon Steve Wright who presented a light-hearted sermon relating to the gospel of Matthew 28 v1-10.
'A sermon with a difference'
Steve mentioned that there were three main points to this sermon all beginning with the letter 'F'.
Fear, the fear of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when they found the empty tomb and the angel of the Lord appeared to them.
Faith, their faith in believing that Jesus was risen.
They were filled with joy and thanksgiving as they went on there way but, no 'F' in joy or thanksgiving, so the next poster we saw just had to be 'Fanksgiving'!
There was, however, a fourth 'Forth Telling '. Jesus said to them 'Do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me
Fear, Faith, Fanksgiving, Forth Telling
Our journey ends with a new beginning.
Christ is Risen, Alleluia , Alleluia
Thank you to Steve for guiding us on this journey through Holy Week,to Anne and Carol and all those involved in organising these services during one of the most important weeks in the Church Year.
Peace and blessings to all
The Coffee Morning, held for the first time in Bardon Mill Village Hall was a great success. The proceeds came to just over £500 and after expenses, we were able to donate £500 to causes benefitting mothers.£250 was given to the Mothers'Union Campaign "Gifts of Perseverence", supporting projects for mothers in the UK and worldwide. £250 was donated to the MU Newcastle Diocese AFIA fund. This is the fund which provides Away From It All holidays and Away Days for needy families in the Newcastle Diocese. We are very grateful for the support we received.
Sunday 26th March 2023
On the 5th Sunday of Lent, also known as Passion Sunday, it was good to return to worship at St Cuthbert's Church, Beltingham to celebrate St Cuthbert's Day.
A Holy Communion service presided over by Rev'd Keith Teasdale was well attended on a bright spring morning
Keith spoke about aspects of the life and work of St Cuthbert including his ministry, his love of animals , his time on LIndisfarne and his time of solitude on Inner Farne until his final journey to eventually rest in Durham Cathedral.
St Cuthbert's Day 20th March
Sunday 19th March 2023
A special service to celebrate the life of St Cuthbert was held at Haydon Old Church on the eve of St Cuthbert's Day. The service was led by Rev'd Gill Alexander. Gill was joined by Rev'd Canon Steve Wright, Vicar of Haltwhistle, Greenhead and Beltingham with Henshaw. Steve spoke about the life of St Cuthbert and mentioned that he has become much more familiar this Northern Saint since arriving in our region one year ago and his introduction to the Greehead 'Altar Rail Kneelers' which depict the life of Cuthbert.
Readings about St Cuthbert were given by Rev'd Michael Sadgrove and Gill Valentine.
The service began with the Hymn of Cuthbert with words written by Rev'd Michael Sadgrove and ended with a rousing rendition of 'Guide me,O thou great Redeemer'
We exited this lovely old church to spring sunshine and lambs gamboling in the fields nearby.
Saturday 18th March 2023
The Mothers' Union 'Make a Mothers' Day' Coffee Morning was held for the first time in Bardon Mill Village Hall. The venue proved very successful and a total of just over £500 was raised.
As well as coffee and some delicious cakes there was a raffle and several stalls including cakes and home made produce, books, new and nearly new items and a candle stall with the candles made by Rev'd John Harrison, Chaplain to the Mothers'Union.
Thank you to all the Mothers' Union Members who had clearly worked so hard to make this a very enjoyable and successful event .