Sunday 28 March 2021

The Royal Banners Forward Go Albeit Not Very Far


It may not look like it from this snapshot but there were nearly 60 souls (living ones) at our Palm Sunday mass this morning as we resumed public worship for the first time since mid-January, which is not far off capacity at the moment. We had a smattering of refugees from Tophill who are not yet open and a handful of newcomers to the parish trying us out for the first time - not sure Palm Sunday is the most representative occasion to do it! - so we may not be as full again but I have asked people to book in for the main service on Easter Day so we will see what happens. No Palm Sunday procession this year and no full-scale reading of the Passion: it was just me and Marion. At one point I lost concentration and carried on into her next line, but we recovered. I was going to preach a tiny, tiny sermon, but in the end decided not to; I think rightly, as you can see the whole service took fifty minutes what with that long Passion reading, and that's right at the top end of what I think is advisable at the moment. Our Holy Week diet includes some remote worship and some in-person stuff and everything that is normally done, will be done - if in a somewhat truncated form. No champagne and pain-au-chocolat on Easter Day but there's always next year, we pray.

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