Sunday Worship Podcast links and other news from Seal Church: March 26

 

Dear friends Join us for worship online, on the phone or in the building today.  with best wishes Anne Le Bas Online Worship podcast    Order of service You can also access this podcast by phoning 01732 928061 In the church building today - DON'T FORGET THAT THE CLOCKS HAVE GONE FORWARD! 10 am   Holy Communion  6.30pm Evensong Next Sunday   10 am  Palm Sunday Holy Communion 6.30pm Evensong This week: Mon      2-3.30 Talking Village at Deniz Cafe in the High Street Wed      9 am Seal School Easter Service  (sorry, no Zoom Church this week)              7.15 Choir in the hall               2pm Seal School Easter Service Thurs   9 am Seal School Easter Service Fri         9.30 am Morning Prayer in church             10.30-12.30 Friday Group in church hall Lent 5 Kevin Bright is preaching today, exploring the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from death.  John's Gospel is the only one of the four to tell this story, though we meet Martha and Mary, Lazarus' sisters, in the other Gospels. This was a family who Jesus was close to. They welcomed and supported him and his disciples, providing a loving and welcoming home for him. This story shows us Mary and Martha as truly human characters, distraught at the death of their brother, and, like his disciples, unable to understand why Jesus didn't prevent it. Jesus weeps too. He may know that the story will end with Lazarus raised from death, but that will not negate the anxiety and pain that those who love him have felt.  Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet's painting, above, of the scene is full of drama and movement. A diagonal line draws the eye from Jesus' outstretched hand through Mary, in white, to Lazarus in the bottom left hand corner.  Every reaction, from joy to confusion to horror and suspicion seems to be expressed in the faces of the crowd, inviting us to wonder how we would have reacted.   All Age Ideas In today's Gospel reading, Jesus hears that his friend, Lazarus, has died, and he cries because he is sad.  What makes you cry? What helps when you are crying? What do you hope people will do to help you? Draw a tear shape on a piece of paper, and write in it the things that make you feel sad, as your prayer. You could draw a number of tears like this, cut them out and make them into a mobile. HOLY WEEK & EASTER PALM SUNDAY April 2 10 am Palm Sunday communion service, with procession from the lychgate MON, TUES, WED, FRI, SAT    8 pm      Compline (Night Prayer) MAUNDY THURS April 6 8 pm     Holy Communion and Tenebrae GOOD FRIDAY April 7    10 – 11.30 am Messy Church for Good Friday 12– 8pm   Time for reflection Drop in at any point for as long as you like. There will be focuses for prayer around the church for you to ponder. 2.30 – 3pm     Good Friday Service 8 pm     Compline HOLY SATURDAY April 8        8 pm     Compline EASTER SUNDAY April 9        10 am  Parish Communion for Easter Day 6.30pm Evensong, (said, with hymns) Please join us at any of our services in Holy Week   CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN OUR PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL? The PCC meets six times a year to discuss a wide range of matters to do with church activities, services, fabric and finance. Members must be prepared to have a DBS check, and do safeguarding training. They must not have been disqualified from being charity trustees. They need to be confirmed, and have been on the church electoral roll for at least six months. Elections will take place at our APCM on May 21, but if you would like to find out more in advance, please let me know. There is a copy of the Role Description on the noticeboard. We are also looking for people (on the PCC or not) to join our Fabric and Maintenance team, to help organise repairs and routine maintenance etc. If you could help, let me know! ELECTORAL ROLL If you are not on our Electoral Roll, and would like to be, please fill in a form which you can find at the back of the church. Being on the church Electoral Roll qualifies you to vote at the Annual Meeting, but also means that, if you don’t live in the parish, you could be buried in the churchyard, if you want to. Electoral roll forms can be found at the back of church or downloaded here. https://www.parishresources.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Application-for-Enrolment-Electoral-Roll.docx Completed forms should be returned to the Electoral Roll officer, Wivine Turner, c/o The Vicarage, Church Street, Seal, TN15 0AR EASTER LUNCH Lise & Andrew Michaelides are hosting Easter Sunday lunch at their home this year, 2 Copse Bank, Seal TN15 0DE at 1pm. Everyone very welcome indeed, vegetarian option available. If you would like to come get in touch with Lise on 07570 125125  liseshay1@gmail.com CONFIRMATION SERVICE Saturday May 27th 4pm in Westerham. Would you like to be confirmed? Please let me know if you would like to be prepared to make this commitment. SEAL CHURCH CLOCK Are you missing the chiming of Seal Church clock? So are we! The mechanism, which is over 150 years old, is badly in need of repair. It will cost around £6000 to do the job, which will involve dismantling the clock, getting it down the tower stairs and taking it to the clock repairers workshop, then doing the whole operation in reverse when it is complete. If you can help with raising the money for this you can donate here https://givealittle.co/campaigns/08d6ce0f-43b4-4d7a-aee7-b94c269b0555, or by cheque payable to Friends of St Peter and St Paul Church" or in cash delivered to The Vicarage, Church Street, Seal, TN15 0AR We're hoping the repairs can be started as soon as possible!

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