2016-02

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Taking a Break for Lent How do you like your pancakes? With maple syrup, honey, or chocolate sauce? It’s always with sugar and lemon juice in our house, very traditional, and usually wolfed down without much thought that they are the remains of a much older, medieval feast. Shrove Tuesday, known by the French as Mardi Gras, or ‘Fat Tuesday’, was the last day of a three-day binge to use up all the milk, eggs, meat and other perishables that would go off during Lent: strict church rules meant that such foods couldn’t be eaten again till Easter. Next on the horizon after the pancakes are the Easter eggs, of course, but what about Lent, the 40 days in between? Lent reminds us of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness without food, fi ghting off the devil with nothing but his knowledge of Old Testament scripture. Some churches still observe Lent as a period of very strict fasting and often no meat is eaten over the whole period. Most of us think however of simply “giving something up for Lent”. Chocolate or sweets are a popular choice, while we look forward to those eggs… The underlying idea is that we do ourselves good by the discipline of dieting, we give the money we save to charities that help the poor, and we use the time we might be eating chocolate to pray and get closer to God. A lot of churches run Lent courses, guided sessions of Bible study and prayer, during the period. It doesn’t have to be chocolate of course; what about giving up smoking, or alcohol – or social media?! For a different approach, try logging onto www.tearfund.org and searching the site for “Lent” or “Carbon Fast”. You’ll fi nd some imaginative approaches to using less energy during Lent, reducing our impact on the environment and on poorer communities adversely affected by climate change. There are lots of creative prayer and meditation ideas as well. Lent starts six weeks, or (roughly) 40 days before Easter, which is the only church celebration whose date is still fi xed by the lunar calendar. This is because Easter always has to fall over a weekend, remembering that Jesus was crucifi ed on a Friday and rose again on a Sunday morning. It’s early this year – Lent starts on February 10, so have a think about what you might want to do, and don’t be caught out by the calendar. Ken Goodier PHOTO BY KURTIS GARBUTT St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats Church Offi ce: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffi eld S8 0GA Tel: (0114) 274 5086 Page 14 email: offi ce@stchads.org website: www.stchads.org
St Chad’s Church House Thursdays at 7.30pm from February 11 Christianity Explored gives you time and space to consider the big questions of life and to explore the life of the person at the heart of the Christian faith – Jesus Christ. zz You don’t need to know anything about the Bible. zz You won’t be asked to read aloud, pray or sing. zz You can ask any question you want, or just listen. This seven-week course starts on Thursday February 11 at Church House, 56 Abbey Lane. We’ll have a meal together, listen to a talk and have some discussion time. Contact office@stchads.org to book a place. WOODSEATS • SHEFFIELD St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats Church Office: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA Tel: (0114) 274 5086 Page 15 email: office@stchads.org website: www.stchads.org
Page 1 and 2: St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue,
Page 3 and 4: Sunday March 20 Thursday March 24 S
Page 5 and 6: “Nothing is certain except what a
Page 7 and 8: Send details of your event to impac
Page 9 and 10: Angels St Chad’s Church, Linden A
Page 11 and 12: of Glass Painter & Decorator DIY wo
Page 13: with God the Maker My stained glass
Page 17 and 18: Sunday March 20 Easter worship at S
Page 19 and 20: Stories in Glass Three of the stain
Page 21 and 22: Thanks for supporting Operation Chr
Page 23 and 24: CALL FREE ON 0800 328 0006 or 01274
Page 25 and 26: A Half Forgotten Song by Katherine
Page 27 and 28: Where’s that from..? Codswallop M
Page 29 and 30: Services during Lent & Easter Febru
Page 31 and 32: St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue,

2016-02

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?