It’s inevitably a more serious season – the church is bare, and Christians usually undertake a Lent Course that helps them go deeper in their faith.For us here at St George’s our Lent course was ‘Radical Welcome’. We think that we are a welcoming and friendly church, but do not want to rest on our laurels, and are conscious that we can always do better.We worked with the school to explore the stations of the cross with the children, and on Good Friday had a morning of crafts, games followed by a party lunch.For the adults, we headed into Holy Week when we gathered together for Maundy Thursday as we remembered Christ’s last supper, and then on Good Friday we gathered together for Three Hours, contemplating Jesus’ last words on the cross, interspersed with reflections, hymns, and music from Haydn. Then on Easter Eve we renewed our baptism vows, and gathered around an Easter Fire with marshmallows! Finally on Easter Day we celebrated with flowers, confetti, Easter Egg hunt and gifts for the children! A wonderful way to usher in the new season of joy!
Conscious that this is a day of mixed emotions for many – some love it, some hate it, and many fall in the middle, so we decided to go into town and bless as many as wanted them with some small bunches of flowers.On Friday morning, 1000 daffodils duly arrived and some wonderful volunteers spent 45 mins collating them into small bunches. 75 were put to one side ready for our Mothering Sunday Service.Then, three of us then took them into town and spent a lovely hour giving them away for free. We had lots of lovely conversations, with many people surprised that there wasn’t a ‘catch’.If you happened to get some we do hope that you enjoy them, and that however you find this weekend, a splash of yellow will lift your spirits and bring some spring warmth into your home!
It was with a bit of consternation that we realised that Shrove Tuesday landed right in the middle of half term. A few chats with people here and there, and we began to imagine that the whole of Altrincham might be heading off on holiday (a slight over exaggeration, we realise!).So rather than miss anyone, we decided instead to move our pancakes a few days early – a notice in the Service Sheet, an advert on the website and socials, and – ta dah! - Shrove Sunday was born! So church it was in the morning, and then everyone flocked over to the Parish Centre for an update from Dee & Rev Claire, followed by the much anticipated pancakes and scrumptious toppings. Ably made by Alex & Alan, and aided and abetted by the organisational talents of Janet, Hannah & Liv, soon pancakes were being tossed and tummies filled! It was so lovely having such a multi-generational meal with people from all ages and stages treating themselves – the Parish Centre was suitably full, and we suspect that we might repeat the timings again next year. Perhaps ‘Shrove Sunday’ might indeed catch on?!
We started off on Saturday with our Carols by Candlelight. This is our big, traditional service where we pull out all the stops! It started with a church absolutely filled with candles – if there was a windowsill, it had candles in it! Then there were our Christmas Trees full of twinkling fairy lights, alongside the top of the nave (the long bit in the middle) also being covered by strings of fairy lights. Add to that not one, but two choirs – our resident Adult choir, joined for the first time by our new Children’s Choir, Alty Trebles. Our Adult choir sang, amongst other pieces, the new arrangement of The First Nowell which was sublime, whilst our children caused a few tears to flow as they expertly sang Away in a Manger. Add to that a really impressive young musician called Ted Moorhouse. We first met him at our Remembrance Service where he blew us away with the quality of his musicianship, and we quickly booked him for our Carols by Candlelight. He did not disappoint. Two stunning pieces which left everyone really moved: In a carol service it’s traditional not to applaud (we are worshipping, not performing) but it took quite a lot of discipline not to! Then to cap it all, we were joined by Sale Brass Band who also blew us out of the sky with their skills as they led us in some carols, and then performed a piece of their own. To hear their melodies filling the church was deeply moving. To bring it to a close, we then had some mulled wine and mince pies – quite an evening! Then on Saturday it was a Carol Service with a different vibe, but none the less special for it. We teamed up with the wonderful Altrincham Baptist Church (ABC) who for the past nine years have been wowing the community of Altrincham with their Carols in the Park. The concept sounds simple – carols, videos, hats and gloves all in the beautiful surroundings of John Leigh Park. The technicalities struck us as a little bit more challenging, but ABC had clearly done this before, and it was so lovely to be able to slot in to such a professional and experienced crew and be so warmly welcomed by the team. Ashley (lead Minister at Altrincham Baptist) and Rev. Claire led the service, with readers from across the two churches and park communities, a live band providing some stunning music. The whole back team who were in charge of the admin, projection, sound and stewarding were just incredible, and, Rev. Claire felt, impressively unflappable! As we sang carols, watched some awesome videos, the moon was shining, the stars were out and it was just amazing being part of an event that truly pulled the local community together. We can’t wait for next year – Ashley has promised something particularly special for its 10th year, so we will wait and see what the plans are….! (and for those of you who were there, Rev. Claire is beginning her campaign to get Ding Dong Merrily on the playlist…..🤣!)
