Palm Sunday and Holy Week, 2021

Navigating the ongoing situation and remaining within safety guidelines is a challenge, but that challenge is being met.

In Dorset, following on from last year’s video of lockdown ‘Easter Gardens’, the people of West Moors and the children of St Mary’s First School have again been gathering pictures for a video, but this time for charity. St Mary’s Lent Charity this year was The East Dorset Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Centre - a partnership between Hope Church and the Bus Stop Club at Ferndown.

After an inspiring talk on their work on Zoom, Vicar Andy Muckle came up with the idea of following from last year’s video success with pictures of Easter crosses that meant something really important, or were homemade, or were found in nature. The wide variety of crosses submitted, along with donations, included a prayer book made of coal, photos of shadows on doors, and drawings from the school.

Andy tells us: "At the time of writing, donations made have raised over £1200 for CAP, which shows the power of the cross to bring new life!"

The video can be watched on YouTube here.

In Wiltshire, the Canalside Parishes hosted a journey around the benefice to reflect on the events of Palm Sunday. Palm crosses were available for collection in each church porch, and a Holy Week reflection trail went live in Semington and Hilperton Churchyards from Monday.

Watch a video here.

St Bartholomew and All Saints Church in Royal Wootton Bassett also broadcast on YouTube, as did Wareham.

Meanwhile, Bishop Karen tweeted:

"Looking forward to joining the congregation of St Mary Swanage this morning to celebrate #PalmSunday2021 in person. Also looking forward to seeing the sea for the first time in months."

Wyke Regis' Alasdair Kay said:

"So wonderful to be back doing that Priest thing again. I know I have been doing it, but it’s not the same. Nearly in tears as I pressed the Eucharist back into the hands of the faithful today. #Hosanna #PalmSunday2021 so wonderful to see one another."

And in Bridport, Marshwood Primary School celebrated Palm Sunday in fine style with an outdoor Easter Service, and the Revd Chris Martin was "delighted to be invited!"

The children acted out the Palm Sunday procession into Jerusalem with some real-life Shetland ponies disguised as donkeys,

as well as the Last Supper, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and Jesus appearing to Thomas, and the children also sang some Easter songs.

Blandford's Karen Wilson shared pictures of palms made of children's palm prints, saying:

"Beautiful palms made by the children of Archbishop Wake CE School decorated Blandford Church for our Palm Sunday Service this morning. More of their beautiful work will be displayed throughout Holy Week."

Wiltshire's Nadder Valley put on a Zoomed Palm Sunday service featuring Zephyr the donkey, led by handler Leo, and Durweston CE School broadcast on Twitter, but sadly had to do without a donkey this year.

In Wiltshire, Social Justice Manager Colin Brady and Harnham's Revd Becky Roberts shared about Simnel cake (here and here).

Members of the choir at Devizes St John sang Compline in the churchyard at 7.30pm on Wednesday (31st March), just before sunset. An invitation went out "to come along and join in with the hymn ‘My song is love unknown’ - the first hymn to be sung by our congregation for over a year!"

Bishops Cannings School had an Easter Bonnet Parade,

and, in the Wellsprings Benefice, Worton's Five Lanes Primary School tweeted:

"Thanks Revd Adrian [Burholt] for welcoming us to church this morning. We love your magic tricks and especially loved singing the Easter sea-shanty and sending Easter greetings from the pulpit."

Lucy Waterman from the United Benefice said:

"We have 2 beautiful videos that have been made for Good Friday and Easter day featuring music written by Ben Jarvis (our musical director), the reading of the Easter story and wonderful local imagery.

"The first of our special Easter videos, a reflection for Good Friday, has just gone live! This beautiful 10 minute reflection by Revd Jenny Davis, with stunning music and visuals from a garden (courtesy Beth Evans) is a brilliant way to pause and think this week. Watching in HD really brings these videos to life with the higher quality. The link is here."

Meanwhile in Dorchester, Saira Sawtell, Headteacher of St Osmund's CE Middle School, said:

"I wanted to share our Easter Garden initiative in our new Joy Garden (a permanent thing which can carry a special focus depending on the time of year). I wanted to share the joy of our 720 children all experiencing this during the countdown to Easter. Please see our short video - link here."

In Weymouth, the Revd Matt Renyard debuted Emmanuel Southill's 'Holy Week Box', a set of videos going live every day of Holy Week,  and the Revd Jo Haine was grateful for a quiet day with Bishop Karen, featuring spiritual artwork for those in need of a rest.

Durweston CE School were busy again outside, but this time in the nearby St Nick's churchyard, beginning with the Last Supper. Chair of Governors Lesley Bryning explained that it was a matter of Easter storytelling!

Churches Together in Dorset shared a comprehensive set of Holy Week and Easter resources in their networks - view a copy here.

With 80 million Easter eggs are sold in the UK every year, as a Fairtrade Diocese, a number of our parishes and schools support Fairtrade (more here), and the Fairtrade Real Easter Egg (more here), seeking to ensure the Christian message of Easter is not lost.

Finally, back in Blandford, the artwork from Archbishop Wake CE School was worth waiting for.

The Revd Karen Wilson commented:

"Blandford Church is ablaze with the colours of this beautiful display from Archbishop Wake. They have produced work which has drawn both gasps and tears from those who have seen it, it’s incredibly moving. The whole display is available on the church website."