This Sunday 19^th May at 6.30pm, Christ Church, Fulmodeston is having a Taizé Prayer for Pentecost led by the Norwich Taizé Group. The Taizé service includes prayer through sung chants, readings and periods of silence for reflection. There will be musicians to support the singing of the chants. This is a wonderful chance to experience worship in a meditative form.

Brother Roger of Taizé: ‘Song is one of the most essential elements of worship. Short chants, repeated again and again, give it a meditative character. Using just a few words, they express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind. As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the whole being. And these simple songs then enable us to keep on praying when we are alone, by night and by day, sometimes in the silence of our hearts when we are at work’

‘To open the eyes of trust in God, nothing can replace the beauty of human voices united in song. This beauty can give us a glimpse of “heaven’s joy on earth.” And an inner life begins to grow within us.’

For location of Christ Church go to How to Find Us page under Fulmodeston heading.

Tweet

The Concert of the Year !

Trinity College Cambridge Choir comes to Fakenham Parish Church – Sunday 21 April – 7.00pm

Tickets £12 (under 18s are free) available at the door or in advance from The Parish Office 01328 862268

The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge comprises around thirty choral scholars and two organ scholars, all of whom are ordinarily undergraduates of the College. The College’s choral tradition dates back to the all-male choir of the fourteenth century. Director of Music is Stephen Layton.

Comment from Rev Adrian Rector of Fakenham: ‘We are delighted that the internationally famous Trinity College Choir will perform at Fakenham Parish Church. Trinity College is the Patron of the Church and appoints all clergy. During my 12 years as Rector this is the first time they have performed in Fakenham. We are highly honoured!‘

Tweet

On Good Friday the day started with the Walk of Witness and then was followed by a Messy Good Friday Workshop at the Parish Church.

Now a regular event on Fakenham & District Churches Together calendar, this year’s Walk of Witness gathered members of our churches for quiet contemplation in St Anthony’s RC church before we set out.  Readings from St Mark’s Gospel (chapters 15 & 16) remembering the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, prayers and songs interspersed our walk. Our solemn march through town following the cross stopping at the library and in the market square, ended with final prayers and song at the Baptist Community Church who provided us warm drinks and hot cross buns. The Salvation Army did us proud with brass accompaniment to ‘Just as I am, without one plea’; ‘There is a green hill far away’; ‘When I survey the wondrous cross’ and ‘Amazing grace! How sweet the sound’. As we sang in the Market Square a troop of young pilgrims on their way to Walsingham gathered with us, and joined us for the last leg.

 Messy Church Good Friday Workshop

Almost 100 people, of all ages, attended the annual Messy Church Good Friday Workshop in Fakenham Parish Church. With an increased number of crafts available, the Holy Week and Easter story was told through craft activity but also through a re-enactment of various events in the life of Christ culminating in the Resurrection. Led by Anne Rae-Sims and Felicity Randall the event was very successful. After all the crafts and celebration service a ‘feast’ of family meal was tucked into and unlike the Feeding of the 5,000 very little was left!

The next event for families is next Sunday (7th April) Bridges Family Service at 9.30am and then on 14th April there will be the next Messy Church from 3.30pm – 5.30pm, No need to book in – just come along.

Tweet

One of the last wishes of Pope Benedict was to allow the famous Turin Shroud to be seen on TV this Easter. This event will no doubt open up the long debate whether the Turin shroud, purporting to show the face of Christ on his burial cloth, is actually genuine.  Padua University in Italy have tests to show the cloth does indeed date back to between 280 B.C. and 220 A.D. – which could place it within Christ’s lifetime. However many other scholars still think that it is a medieval fake.

Whether it is genuine or not there have been many other claims to fame. Pieces of the cross called the True Cross have been venerated since the  Middle ages and some still exist, the Veil of Veronica exists which was supposed to be the cloth used to wipe the sweat away from Jesus on the Cross, the Seamless Robe was supposed to be the garment worn by Christ before Crucifixion, is still around. The Holy Grail saw crusaders going through the Holy land in search of the cup of the Last supper, and if used could give eternal life.  Many have searched for it including Indiana Jones, but probably more important is Leonardo Da Vinci who interpreted the Holy Grail as Mary Magdalene, so the novel and film the Da Vinci Code will tell you. (!!!)

The likelihood of relics remaining from the time of Christ seems rather preposterous, but not impossible.  Don’t discount every relic that you may read about – in all probability some are truly genuine.

But does it really matter?  Having knelt at the shrines of St Peter, of St Paul and St Francis in Italy, I believed that their bodies were in those tombs and Basilicas but who can tell.

Reading St Luke’s version of the Resurrection I have been more enthused this Holy Week and Easter with the first Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians. Probably the first piece of written evidence of the life of Christ in the Bible, and written to the people of Corinth by St Paul. Paul’s letter to this young church deals with numerous problems not least that some of the Christian converts were denying the Resurrection of Christ and his death.

St Paul writes to these new converts about the Easter story, just as we tried to get across to almost 100 people who attended the Messy Church Good Friday Workshop this year – he told of the death and resurrection of Jesus as historian and physical acts. Whatever the nature of the body of Christ he and we believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

St Paul clearly states five facts which I will briefly go through:-

Firstly without Christ’s death and the resurrection we cannot be saved and we are still unforgiven. A dead man on a cross was very common, but a resurrected one, unheard of.

Secondly without Christ’s resurrection there is no guarantee that we shall rise again and be given new bodies. I think we are all waiting to have new bodies- certainly I am!

Thirdly without the resurrection, death has the victory. Look at the Cistine Chapel and see the face of the man who is damned to hell. This is real and this means death for ever. Quite frightening and that it why it was painted.

Fourthly without the resurrection all the biblical promise that justice will in the end be done and those who have served him and suffered will be vindicated, cannot be fulfilled. No wonder Christian Churches in Africa and South America are growing rapidly. They look at the West in all its glory- gluttony and moral corruption, wealth and disregard for the poor – this gives them hope. The World Wide Web has brought the world together but then it has made the difference so obvious to the poor.

Finally without the resurrection, without the empty tomb, without the Risen Lord who was recognizable, and who eats and drinks with his friends there is no Christian faith.

So this is my Easter gift to you all. Yes you will get an egg when you leave church and a symbol of this day but the real gift is the knowledge that the resurrection of Christ is real.

The Turin Shroud may be an elaborate and clever medieval hoax. What matters is that the Epistles and the Gospel tell us a story which I and I hope you believe is totally true.

A young man was sentenced to death, he died on a cross witnessed by many people, he was buried by friends and he was raised by God and hundreds witnessed his resurrection.

We have a faith to proclaim

Christ Died
Christ is Risen
Christ will come again.

Revd. Adrian Bell

Tweet

Easter Saturday saw Fakenham Churches Together present the story of Easter by enacting a short sketch about a rag man. The rag man walked through the ‘town’ pulling behind him a shopping trolley full of good, brand new things – almost like they were presents.

He came to a woman crying, and he took her old soiled hanky and gave her a brand new fresh handkerchief – and he then started crying.

He came to an injured child and exchanged her bandage for a lovely new hat – he put her bloody bandage on himself and at the same time, began himself to bleed.

He came to a lonely, unhappy man sitting on a park bench and gave him a new hat for his old one – and wore the broken hat himself.

He came to an unemployed labourer, who couldn’t work because of an injury. He swapped his own new warm coat for the ripped dirty coat of the labourer and as he did so, the labourer’s arm became as good as new. But the man’s arm became useless.

He came to a poor homeless woman and gave her a brand new thick warm blanket for her old smelly threadbare one – and took the old blanket away with him.

He walked on, stumbling with what he had given of himself and taken on himself. Finally he found a rough piece of ground, laid down, and died.

But that wasn’t the end. Some time later, he was seen and he was alive! He had exchanged all the shabby things he had taken on himself and he appeared to be ‘new’!

Not only that, but he came to the person who had seen him, and he dressed them in bright, shining, clean new clothes.

The message of Easter is that he will still do that for anyone who asks Him. He, of course, is Jesus.

Tweet

On Holy Saturday 30th March Churches Together will be telling the Story of Easter through music, dance and drama starting at 11.00am in the Market Place.

Tweet

Last year 130 people attended the first Messy Church Good Friday Workshop at Fakenham Parish Church. In this amazing number of people were 84 children ranging from babies to teenagers. Guided by Felicity Randal the Good Friday and Easter story was told with great imagination and was supported by a team of musicians and a large number of craft workshop helpers. This was followed by a Bring and Share ‘Feast’ and hardly a cake or sandwich was left over. We hope you will come and join us again this Good Friday for another very Messy Good Friday Workshop. This is a workshop for all ages bring your children, grandchildren and friends. This is a free event just bring some lunch to share. The morning starts at 10.30am and finishes at 12.30pm. Doors open at 10.15am.

Tweet

There will be a Churches Together Walk of Witness starting with silent prayer at 9.00am at St Anthony RC Church. Then the walk begins at 9.30am and we will be processing down Oak Street and stopping at the library, Market Place and ending at the Baptist Community Church were there will be refreshments. There will be Gospel readings, prayer and hymns. Please come and join us.

Tweet

On Saturday 23rd March the Parish Church will be filled with a diverse range of crafts. Fakenham Craft Market is a monthly event and is full of local crafts. It is held from 9am – 2pm. Refreshments served during morning.

Tweet