I always love the Easter season of the Church’s year. After the austerity of Lent, the emotional intensity of Holy Week, in these six weeks which the great rejoicing of Easter carries on and we remember once again what it is to be a people who live in the light of the Resurrection. Of course, these six weeks fall in April and May, which are some of the loveliest in the year, and that helps too.

In these six weeks we look forward to the celebrating Christ’s Ascension and to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This year, as well as a morning service for Ascension Day, we will be holding a joint evening service with our next door neighbour parish of St Albans. It will be great to join together to celebrate the Ascension and I hope this will be the start of more collaboration between us.

After ten days we will celebrate Pentecost, the great feast of the birthday of the Church and the coming of the Holy Spirit. That day also falls during the four day bank holiday weekend to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. We are planning a Service of Thanksgiving for HM the Queen on Thursday 2nd June at 10.30, and then on Sunday afternoon, our grand Jubilee Fete.

Plans are going on steadily for the fete, and I’m encouraged by the number of people who have said they are willing to help. I hope it will be a really lovely afternoon for all, and a way for us to welcome and celebrate with our village community. We will end the afternoon with ‘Hymns and Pimms’.

Thank you to everyone who gave so generously to our Lent Appeal. Cheques for £576 will be going to the Red Cross Appeal for Ukraine and to The Bank. We had a lovely acknowledgement of thanks from The Bank - this is a small local charity, and our donation means a lot to them.