The Easter holiday is a great opportunity to spend time with family and friends enjoying the wonders of new growth and life that the spring season brings. Many of us celebrate by giving and receiving chocolate eggs and eating a special holiday meal. Gardens are filled with bright splashes of colour and the days are warmer and longer, symbolising renewal after the cold and darkness of winter. However, for Christians Easter is so much more than this - it is the most important festival in the Christian calendar. As Easter approaches members of our congregation have shared what it means to them: Josie enjoys the spring season when we are surrounded by reminders of God’s promise – new life starting to bud and bloom after winter. It is a time of renewal and hope. She describes Easter as being ‘purer’ than Christmas, while Christmas is important it has become more secularised and commercialised. When Josie was a child, she attended church in Oxenhall near Newent. She remembers how when she saw the crucifix in the churchyard it made her feel very sad. As she has got older this sadness has been transformed into joy. She now knows that Jesus’ death was a sacrificial act of love and that He took the punishment for us so that our sins can be forgiven. On Good Friday we remember and reflect on the pain and suffering that Jesus endured for us when he was put to death on a wooden cross. Through His subsequent resurrection we can receive the gift of a new life, offering hope beyond death. Easter Sunday is a joyous time when we commemorate this, we celebrate God’s goodness and remember that we are called to live a transformed life that reflects God’s will. Dianne and Chris B remember how Easter became real for them whilst on holiday in Jerusalem. They visited the Garden Tomb where they saw an ancient wine press, which supports the idea that the area had been a garden vineyard. When they climbed to the boundary of the garden, they saw a rocky hill which bears the resemblance of a skull – Skull Hill. The way in which these sights reflect the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, as described in the Bible, was very poignant to them. Looking down they saw a bus station and an ancient throughfare which were a stark reminder that it is likely that Jesus was crucified by the road as a public shaming. This was more powerful and sombre than any other depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion in hymns or paintings. Outside the city walls of Jerusalem, Dianne and Chris walked along the Via Dolorosa or ‘Way of Sorrow’ believed to be the path Jesus took to His crucifixion and they imagined the harrowing image of Jesus carrying the cross whilst people went about their normal businesses as if it were just another day. Chris D also shared her memories of Jerusalem. She found it different to any other city that she has been to - vibrant and full of life. It was so noisy she even felt that the paving stones were speaking! (Imagine the amazing stories that they could share!) Easter reminds us that amid all the struggles we face in our broken world God offers us the hope of a world made new where all things are healed and pain and sorrow cease. This is the Good News of Easter and is certainly something that we need to celebrate!
The Story behind Mothering Sunday:During the 16th century, people in the UK used to return on the 4th Sunday in Lent for a service to their ‘mother church’ - the main church or cathedral of the area. This was either the church where you were baptised, or the local parish church or more often the nearest cathedral. Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone "a-mothering", although whether this term preceded the observance of Mothering Sunday is unclear.In later times, ‘Mothering Sunday’ became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother church, usually with their own mothers and other family members. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, since on other days they were prevented by conflicting working hours, and servants were not given free days on other occasions.Children and young people who were given this day off so they could visit their families, would pick wild flowers along the way to place in the church or give to their mothers. Eventually, the religious tradition evolved into the Mothering Sunday secular tradition of giving gifts to mothers. (fromyoutome.com)
Our OMF mission partners, David and Manuela Pawson, and their children, Esther, Gideon and Daniel, are returning to Japan in March 2025 to start a second four-year placement. Having completed a year on Home Assignment, catching up with family, friends and supporting churches, they will be moving to the city of Kazuno, located in Akita Prefecture in north-west Japan. They will be working to plant a church in Kazuno with the support of the Green Pastures Church in the neighbouring city of Odate, about a thirty-minute drive away from Kazuno. A recommissioning service was held at St Philip and St James Church in February which enabled the congregation to reaffirm their commitment to supporting the Pawson family and to say their goodbyes and offer encouragement. Prior to this service David kindly answered some questions that we had put to him to learn a bit more about the strategy that he and Manuela are planning for church planting in Kazuno. 1. How is Christianity viewed in the area where you will be living/working and how will the Japanese culture impact your ministry? ''Generally speaking, Christianity has a difficult time in rural areas of Japan because there is a much greater emphasis on traditional religious beliefs and practices than in more urbanised areas. However, in Kazuno it might not be the same. When we visited the area in 2024 one of the villages just north of Kazuno had a number of statues of Catholic nuns and the nursery school there was called the “Mary Nursery School”. We have also heard reports that there was some sort of revival just before the WW2, but this was stamped out during the war. So, whilst we don’t know of any Christians living in Kazuno at the moment, there may be people whose parents or grandparents were believers''. 2. What initial resources will you have for planting the church and what do you think you will you need to support your mission? ''To begin with our main goal is to make contacts and get to know people in the community. From there we hope to start studying the bible with individuals and then eventually a small group. Thankfully, God has provided us with a house that would be well suited to doing this. Often houses in Japan are small and it is not always easy to host regular meetings but our house in Kazuno should have enough room to do so''. 3. What is your vision for the next four-year term in Japan and how has your previous experience influenced this? ''Our vision for this term in Japan is to see the start of a community of believers in Kazuno that will eventually be able to share the gospel with the people of northern Akita prefecture. Having worked in the OMF church plant in Hanamaki we were keen to continue this kind of work and we are very excited to be able to work alongside a Japanese church in this ministry''. David and Manuela’s ministry will start with prayer walking around Kazuno. They are excited to hear what God has planned for them and ask that we pray with them for God to work in the hearts of the people in Kazuno.
Over 40 members of our congregation enjoyed a delicious breakfast together in church on 18th January. A hum of chatter and laughter filled the air as we tucked into our various choices of tea, coffee, juice, rolls, croissants, Danish pastries, fruit and yoghurts. Then it was time to listen and watch presentations on the state of our buildings, finances and growth. Some of the statistics are sobering. For example, the church heating system needs to be replaced within a couple of years at a potential cost of £60K. To replace our current lighting with LED bulbs will incur a potential cost of £30k. Even if applications for grants are successful, we will need to raise half of these amounts ourselves. It was good to pray together as a church family together for these needs.On a more positive note, Revd Joe highlighted four areas in which we will seek to GROW: · Becoming more Christlike and putting down deeper roots of faith· Improving the health of our faith community· Growing with the community we serve· Growing numerically in a natural, sustainable way, bearing good fruit in due season. Joe reminded us of the Bible verses in Ephesians 4 that point to our goal in growth:11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
