All Saints and Holy Trinity

Churches in Wrexham Mission Area

A Guide to Holy Week

21/03/2024 / / 0 Comments

Thorns take the shape of a crown.

Popular acclaim turns to public execution.

Sorrow and love flow mingled down.

Life ends and begins.

Holy Week tells a story like no other, a powerful story of change—a story that continues to change the world, and to change people’s lives.

It’s possible to fast-forward to the great celebration of Easter and hear only the story of joy that came on that resurrection morning. But the impact, indeed the change, is deeper and more powerful when we walk through these holy days together.

  • We begin with the power of the triumphal entry with the Liturgy of Palms on Palm Sunday.
  • We join the disciples gathered for the last supper on Maundy Thursday and discover something about what it means to serve.
  • Come and answer for yourself what is “good” about Good Friday.
  • Catch the first rays of hope on Easter Day.

Holy Week celebrations are marked with honesty. The measured pace of the week helps us to absorb the intense meaning of the events being celebrated. Life, of course, cannot be put on hold—but this week, above all others, is an invitation to pause and reflect on the gifts of faith and community.

You can simply attend Palm Sunday and Easter, but you are deeply encouraged to make time to enter deeply into the entirety of the liturgy of Holy Week as described below.This guide to Holy Week is offered as a way to encourage you to find your own path through these important days.

You may find more than you can ask for or imagine.

Palm Sunday, March 24th

Our Palm Sunday procession and service for both churches will be in Rhostyllen this year

10am           Meet at Rhostyllen schoolyard for Liturgy of the Palms and procession to Holy Trinity Church

10:30am      The passion and Eucharist at Holy Trinity

Join us in the celebration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as we process around the church with palms and sing “Hosanna!” Begin the drama of Holy Week as we recount the story of the crowds who welcomed Jesus, only to turn on him a few days later.

6pm            Holy Trinity, TenebraeAn ancient, quiet candlelit Holy Week service that helps us sit with both the sadness and the hope of Holy Week.

Monday of Holy Week, 25th March

10:30am   – 4pm –    All Saints, Hands-on Holy Week A drop-in session with prayer stations to think about what happened to Jesus in Holy Week, and what that means for us. There will be some short prayers together at 11am, 1:30pm, 3pm – but feel free to come at any point. Interactive and suitable for all ages.

5:30pm – All Saints, Eucharistwith Holy Week reflection

Tuesday of Holy Week, 26th March2-5pm- Holy Trinity, Church open for prayer and the Sacrament of Reconciliation

5:30pm – All Saints, Eucharist with Holy Week reflection

Wednesday of Holy Week, 27th March2-5pm- All Saints, Church open for prayer

and the Sacrament of Reconciliation

5:30pm – All Saints, Eucharistwith Holy Week reflection

Maundy Thursday, 28th March

7pm            All Saints – Washing of Feet, Celebration of Eucharist, the Watch

We gather to hear the story of the Last Supper and the giving of the New Commandment to love and serve one another. Anyone who wishes is invited to come forward to have their feet washed as a sign of service. The Holy Eucharist—our weekly memorial of the Last Supper—is celebrated, and then the altars are stripped of their linens and the ornaments of the church are removed, leaving a stark and bare worship space. We are then invited to keep watch:

“Could you not stay awake with me for one hour?”

Maundy Thursday night we remember Christ’s agony as he was betrayed in the garden of Gethsemane. We will keep a watch from 8:30pm until midnight, finishing with compline at 11:45pm. It is common for people to watch for a short time, or to go and come back, some might stay for the whole time. Join us in this longstanding tradition of keeping watch with Christ.Jesus said to them:

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow…stay here and keep watch with me.

Good Friday, 29th March

12 Noon       Holy Trinity, the three hours

Good Friday is the day we commemorate the death of Jesus. We remember his brutal death on the cross, the humiliating punishment favoured by the Romans for seditious and unsavoury criminals. This liturgy is solemn and penitential, but it is still a celebration because we know that through the cross of Jesus our sins are washed away and we are freed from our guilt. Through the outpouring of the love of Jesus on the cross, we claim our inheritance as children of God. The three hours devotion is broken up into three parts.You are welcome to join at any point.12pm – Stations of the cross1pm – Reflections2pm Liturgy of the Passion of our Lord

Walk with Jesus to the cross using the tradition of the Stations of the Cross, with readings, reflections, and quiet hymns. Spend some time in personal quiet reflection. Join with the liturgy of the day, when we hear again the Passion, Jesus’ suffering and death and give thanks for his love and sacrifice. We leave in silence, broken-hearted because he died for us, but, our broken heats are still full of hope because He Lives.

Holy Saturday, 30th March

The Church waits in silence as Jesus lies in the grave.

Mission Area Easter Vigil, St James, 7pm

We join with the Mission Area to celebrate the Resurrection. Beginning with the kindling of the New Fire, from which is lit the Paschal Candle – the sign of the risen Christ. The candle is processed into the church and the ancient Easter proclamation “Exsultet” is chanted. We then recount the story of salvation, remembering how God is at work in human history. The Gospel of the Resurrection is proclaimed and we celebrate Eucharist together, sharing in the new life of the risen Lord.

Easter Sunday, 31st March

9:30am Holy Trinity11am – All Saints

Easter Day is the greatest celebration in the entire year of the Church: the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and, through God’s raising up of Jesus, the promise of new life for the Creation. In God all things are made new, and we celebrate this with great joy and happiness on the day of Resurrection. After a long season of Lent with no flowers or alleluias, the church is decorated with bright flowers—a sign of the Resurrection—and “Alleluia!” rings out in joyful praise of our God who raised Jesus from the dead.

Holy Week – What’s on

05/03/2024 / / 0 Comments

Palm Sunday – 24th March

Our Palm Sunday procession and service will be in Rhostyllen this year

10am – Meet at Rhostyllen schoolyard for Liturgy of the Palms and procession to Holy Trinity Church
10:30am – The passion and Eucharist at Holy Trinity

6pm – Holy Trinity, Tenebrae (an ancient Holy Week devotion)

Monday of Holy Week, 25th March
10:30am – 4pm – All Saints, Hands-on Holy Week
5:30pm – All Saints, Eucharist 

Tuesday of Holy Week, 26th March
2-5pm- Holy Trinity, Church open for prayer and the Sacrament of Reconciliation allsaintsandholytrinity.co.uk/reconciliation/
5:30pm – All Saints, Eucharist

Wednesday of Holy Week, 27th March
2-5pm All Saints, Church open for prayer and the Sacrament of Reconciliation allsaintsandholytrinity.co.uk/reconciliation/
5:30pm – All Saints, Eucharist

Maundy Thursday, 28th March
7pm All Saints – Washing of Feet and Celebration of Eucharist followed by Watch until midnight. (Join at any time, finishes with compline at 11:50)

Good Friday, 29th March
12-3pm – Holy Trinity, Three hours Devotion
     12pm – Stations of the cross
      1pm – Reflections 
      2pm Liturgy of the Passion of our Lord

Holy Saturday, 30th March
7pm – St James Church Rhosddu , Mission Area Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday, 31st March
9:30am Holy Trinity – Eucharist of the Resurrection
11am – All Saints – Eucharist of the Resurrection

Lenten Study in Wrexham Mission Area

12/02/2024 / / 0 Comments

ST GILES’:
exploring god’s mercy, focusing on five images of Salvation.  
Monday 19th February until Monday 18th March at 7pm at St Giles’
Contact: office@wrexhamparish.org.uk   07751422594

ST MARGARET’S /BETHEL/ ST MARK’S:   
a journey through the Holy land, taking in some of the key places in Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem    Wednesdays 21st February  until 20th March 7.15 for 7.30pm at Bethel Church Hall, Kenyon Avenue LL11 2SP

COMPLINE with a short meditation
based on ‘Loving My Neighbour’, edited  by Olivia Warburton,
at 6pm in St Margaret’s each Sunday evening in Lent
Contact: JonathanSmith@cinw.org.uk   01978 350797   07835 353068

ST JOHN’S /ST JAMES’  
The Natural Evangelism Course  
Mondays 12TH February until Monday 18th March, at 7pm at 160 Borras Park Road, LL13 ER. There are a limited number of places available.
Contact: saraherrington@cinw.org.uk 01978 266018

ALL SAINTS’/ HOLY TRINITY:
The Bible Course – seeing the big picture.
Thursdays from 22nd February at 2.15pm at All Saints’ Vestry / 7.30pm online by Zoom.  For the accompanying book (£5) and Zoom detail please contact Fr. Dylan.
Contact: dylanparryjones@cinw.org.uk 07737377065

Midweek Communion in the Mission Area
Tuesday 10:30am, All Saints, Poyser St
Wednesday 10am, St John’s, Rhosnesni
Wednesday 11am, St Margarets, Garden Village
Thursday 11am, St Giles

Keeping a Holy Lent

12/02/2024 / / 0 Comments

What is Lent all about?

The tradition of Lent is linked to Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the desert before beginning His ministry. The tradition has evolved from the preparation of new believers to be baptised at the Easter vigil, but by the 4th century it was extended to a preparation for all.

I like preparing for things, being ready – having all I need, knowing what is required of me, so in order to prepare for Lent I find myself reflecting on Easter. The Liturgical year takes us on a journey through our faith drawing our focus to different aspects of it at different times. Easter is the pinnacle and cornerstone of our faith, we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus and the new life we find in Christ. The basic tenant of the Christian faith is that Christ’s death and resurrection we (whoever we are) are restored as God’s children. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul describes salvation very clearly as God’s doing not ours.

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Preparation?

The fact is that at Easter we celebrate and remember the gift of salvation for all that none could earn. So how on earth do you prepare for that?

So Lent is not about giving up the things we think are bad for us anyway, or about punishing ourselves for not being good enough, or about trying to earn our salvation by chalking up points. Lent is about coming face to face with who we are in Christ, loved, forgiven, children of God called to be loving and forgiving.

Lent is a time of preparation for Easter, not to earn our salvation but to realise that we cannot. In the Liturgical year Lent is the time that we strive put aside all that gets in the way of our holding firm to our being who we are in Christ. Lent is like a spring clean for the soul, firmly avowed that we won’t let it get that messy again, but knowing that we probably will.

Lent is about preparing, it is also about journeying towards Easter, learning again and again to let go of those things we grasp so tightly so that we can receive open handed and open hearted of God’s love and grace through the death and resurrection of Christ.

The three challenges of Lent

Lent is a time for us to change our lives and grow in holiness. Through the three challenges Lent gives us – fasting (giving up), almsgiving (giving to others) and prayer, we work on developing a closer relationship to God. Our 40 days should be filled with reflection, service and spending time with God in prayer.

Fasting
Fasting might mean giving up a particular food, fasting from meals, or activities – like watching TV or social media, or other things. When preparing the important questions to ask are:

  • How are the things I want to give up for 40 days going to help me develop a closer relationship with God?
  • Will my fast encourage me to avoid sin?
  • Will abstaining from these activities lead me to become a more faith-filled person?

Giving
Giving is about money and Lent is always a good time to review how we use what we have and perhaps give money to church, charity, or someone personally. But giving is also about how we use our time and all the gifts God has given to us.

Prayer
If you don’t have a daily pattern of prayer, Lent is a great time to try it, or develop one if you do. There are a great deal of different ways to pray and resources to help. The most important things to remember are:

  • Habits take time and work to develop
  • God isn’t going to judge your prayer, God will be overjoyed that you prayed!

The Ministry of Reconciliation


Lent is a good time to do a Spiritual health check, Confession (or Reconciliation) can be a helpful part of that process. There are times in our lives when things we do (or don’t do) block us from growing spiritually. They stand between us and God and we can’t get around them. Confession is a way of removing the barriers that grow between us and God, that stop us from growing spiritually. Confession and absolution can be a liberating way of reconnecting with God and make us more effective and stronger in our lives of Christian service and witness.

You can read more and find a standard form for confession and absolution in the Church in Wales here. by following this link: Fr Dylan is available by appointment for anyone who would like to make use of this ministry over Lent. You are welcome to get in touch to know more or follow this link to book a time to meet for this purpose.

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