Easter at St Stephens Nottingham
Holy week was a big week in the life of St Stephens. Children from St Stephens C of E School put together a Holy Week Pilgrimage and came to live it out in church at their Easter Service. Each class (year group) shared different aspects of the Easter Story. The whole school filled every seat in church including standing room at the back.
We then had Wednesday and Thursday as Retreat Days, sharing this time with Urban Abbey (House of Prayer for the City). One of our regular attendees from Church attended a retreat day and shared how he really enjoyed the space and time given.
On Good Friday we had a Family Fun event where we had 42 Children and 38 Adults attend from the local community to hear about Good Friday. Bishop Paul shared some thoughts with us as we shared in food and community together. We used the Stations of the Cross (Created by School) to help shape part of a prayer space. Children had a fantastic time, engaging with Bishop Paul, popping his bubbles and listening to the story of The Cross.
We also shared time on Good Friday evening with our church neighbours, St Christophers and the Catholic Church to explore the Station of the Cross together. This was a precious time together as The Church in Sneinton.
We finally got to Easter Sunday and it was beautiful.
We share a Dawn Service with Urban Abbey where we had a service of Light – with a firepit, liturgy of the Word, Renewal of Baptismal Vows (with worship time) and shared Communion.
As we began to welcome congregants to the 9:30am service we had an Easter Egg Hunt and was encouraged to plant seeds of Hope in the Garden to help us think about the year ahead and the Hope that is given to us through the resurrection.
Easter week saw our new Children and Families Lead – Sarah McCamphill start her new role: Here’s what she had to say about the start of her ministry at St Stephens.
“It was a complete blessing to pull together Good Friday and all the other events at Church during Holy Week and Easter Weekend. It was a beautiful sight watching children and adults engage in prayer spaces, and Jesus focussed activities. I am extremely excited to begin this new and exciting journey at St Stephens and Sneinton.”
Our Holy Week and Easter weekend has provided a new opportunity for connection, and we would love you to continue to pray for the ministry of St Stephens during this time of New Hope.