Mothering Sunday Information [218]

I am pleased to attach everything you need to join in with the service at 9.30 on Sunday morning. Mothering Sunday is a wonderful pause in the middle of Lent which is a form of refreshment. We are invited to think about being rooted and held and cared for and supported- by our Mother Church, and by those who have supported us and by our own mothers and relatives also. It is usually a Sunday when St Nick’s congregation joins the service at St Paul’s- it’s been one of the best things of lockdown that we have been able to worship together Sunday by Sunday and it’s still important to recognise the routines of the Church year.

The order of service for Sunday is here:

Also, here is a fun bookmark to colour in, whatever age you are:

And don’t forget to join the Zoom call after the service, and also to join the Woosehill Zoom after the Service there, which Jane Kraft is taking. The invitations for both Zoom sessions was sent out in Bertie’s email 214.

Things you will need for the Service at St Paul’s– a candle to light at the start of the service, a bowl of water to use during the confession and a piece of paper and some pens or pencils to draw a diagram during the sermon. The service is modelled as an All Together Service so it will include things like a simpler Creed and Confession to make it particularly suitable for the whole Church family.

And this prayer from Fr Tony is an excellent preparation for Sunday morning:

Mothering Sunday

Creative God, who fashioned womanhood in your own image with all maternal qualities;

To nurture, to love and cherish, to protect and sustain, through anxiety and self-sacrifice;

To withstand its demands, the stress of a wayward child, the piercing of a broken heart.

We praise you for Mary, virgin mother, exemplar of all these gifts of motherhood

For her responsiveness to your call, her foresight, her resilience in the face of sorrow.

We give thanks for our mothers, their unconditional love, dedication, and self-sacrifice;

Nurturing us at the breast, guiding us through our formative years, and willingness to let go.

May we ever be thankful for our upbringing, moulding the people we have become, as you,

O Lord, guide us in your infinite wisdom and protection with your abundant love. Amen.

And Cara has written this prayer:

May the God who mothers us hold us tightly,

surround us with love and compassion and

encourage us to care for ourselves and our neighbours.

May we know ourselves to be known and loved,

to be honest in our pain and grief,

and be able to experience the breadth and length

and height and depth of the love of Christ

which fills us with all the fullness of God,

Father and Mother of us all.

Amen.