Dear Friends,

As we celebrate, again, the story of Christ risen, let's shout 'Alleluia' in the face of a world which does not seem to have much to celebrate. We have travelled through a wilderness season and for many the trials of the last year remain a daily reality. The inequalities that have been made clearer by the pandemic, the poverty that many  people live with in the UK and across the world, the racism and other forms of prejudice which human beings use to limit and hurt each other - all this still has to be faced and yet...

And yet, we celebrate Christ crucified and risen - the knowledge that against the odds, new life comes out of death, hope comes out of despair and good news is to be proclaimed however hard to take in the headlines seem. We remember that God is a God of love and that we are a people called to love God, to love one another and to love the world in which we are to serve. In the story of Jesus' stepping out of the tomb, we learn that there are no limits to God's love.

Have a very happy Easter and may God bless and protect you and those you love in the days ahead.


A Prayer for Easter

When everything was dark
and it seemed that the sun would never shine again,
your love broke through.

Your love was too strong,
too wide,
too deep
for death to hold.

The sparks cast by your love
dance and spread
and burst forthwith resurrection light.

Gracious God,
We praise you for the light of new life
made possible through Jesus.
We praise you for the light of new life
that shone on the first witnesses of resurrection.
We praise you for the light of new life
that continues to shine in our hearts today.

We pray that the Easter light of life, hope and joy,
will live in us each day;
and that we will be bearers of that light
into the lives of others.

Amen.

With greetings from the District Chairs.