#517 In Easter week
Fr Sam writes
Wishing you all a very happy Easter!
I would also like to say an enormous “thank you” to everyone who participated in the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter. They were a wonderful and deeply holy experience.
Image: “The Resurrection” from the Vaux Passional
This Sunday: the doubting apostle
This Sunday is the octave day of Easter, Low Sunday, when we focus on the character of Thomas the Apostle and his doubt.
In our first reading at our mid-morning services, we hear St Peter preaching about the Resurrection and Jesus’ fulfilment of prophecy (Acts 2.14a,22-32). Our Gospel reading shows us Jesus meeting the disciples in Thomas’ absence, his doubt, and then his confession of faith “My Lord and my God” (John 20.19-31).
Image: “The Incredulity of St Thomas”, Caravaggio
Services this Sunday
| 9.30am | St Paul’s | Parish Mass | Revd Graham Theobald |
| 10am | Woosehill Church | Holy Communion | Revd Wes Hampton |
| 11am | St Nicholas’ | Community Eucharist |
Coming up: Annual meetings
Our annual parish meetings (often known as the APCM) will take place on Sunday 26 April 2026 and will be held in the Parish Rooms at 5pm.
Anyone on the Electoral Roll is invited to attend the meeting.
At the meeting we will need to elect or re-elect two churchwardens for St Paul’s, four Deanery Synod Reps and up to five PCC members.
If you are interested in any of these roles and have been on the Electoral Roll for at least six months, please speak to Fr Sam, Lesley or one of the churchwardens as soon as possible and complete a nomination form. PCC meetings are held six times a year on Monday evenings.
If you wish to raise a matter under ‘Any Other Business’, please let Fr Sam or Lesley know by the Sunday before the meeting (19 April 2026). If you would like to ask any questions about the reports (especially the financial report) it is also very helpful if you are able to let us know beforehand as we might not be able to give a full answer off the cuff.
The papers for the meeting and the nomination forms are all available on our website and in hard copy at the back of church. Tea and coffee will be served at the start of the meeting.
Please consider whether you are called to stand, and pray for the life and work of the PCC, its effectiveness, commitment and openness to the guidance of God.
Lesley Ruddock, PCC Secretary
This week’s calendar: Quasimodo
One of the (many) traditional names for the Sunday after Easter is Quasimodo Sunday, after the first word of the mass of the day, which in English begins “just like newborn infants”. In Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the titular character is found on this day and is named after it.
“Just like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up to salvation; for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”
Image: “The Three Marys” by William Blake
