Listen now

Please find the link to our April 2021 church magazine:

This is our Easter edition. So you’ll find reflections and prayers, as well as events, news and updates, including an article on some of the charitable work that we support. Paper copies of the magazine are available in both of our churches: Christ Church Walmersley and St John with St Mark, Bury.

PLEASE NOTE: The St John with St Mark APCM will now be Zoomed on 16th May at 12pm.

Easter services

If you can come along to our Easter services, then it would be great to see you:

The April 2021 church magazine also includes this letter by our Vicar, Dave Thompson…

He is risen

Dear Friends, Easter is without doubt the most important season in the Church year and Easter Sunday is the most special day of the year. The resurrection of Jesus Christ – the Son of God – changed the world in an unprecedented way. The timing and traditions of Easter are interesting to note. 

The timing of Easter is linked to the Passover festival which celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. This feast lasts for 7 days from the middle of the Hebrew month of Nisan, which equates to late March or early April. According to Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727), who used the Hebrew lunar calendar for his research, the resurrection is likely to have occurred on Sunday 5 April 33AD. Modern scholars continue to believe that this date could be accurate.

Yet our dates for the celebration of Easter vary according to the moon.

Full moon

Officially, Easter Day falls on the first Sunday after the full moon following the Spring equinox. But the precise calculations are very complicated and involve something called an “ecclesiastical full moon” which is not the same as the moon in the sky. 

The earliest possible date for Easter in the West is 22 March, which last fell in 1818 and will not happen again until 2285. The latest is 25 April which happened in 1943 and is next due in 2038.

The name “Easter” comes from Eostre, a Saxon fertility goddess mentioned by the Venerable Bede. He thought that the Saxons worshipped her in “Eostur-Monath”. Eostre’s sacred animal was a hare – hence the link with the Easter bunny!

Resurrection

Easter eggs are also a symbol of fertility and rebirth. They can portray the empty tomb of Jesus. Alternatively, since eggs were historically forbidden in Lent, we can easily see how decorating and eating them became a practical way of celebrating the season – particularly when coated in chocolate! 

Whatever the meanings or traditions associated with Easter, the resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of our Christian faith.  Our greeting of “Alleluia, Christ is risen. He is risen indeed, Alleluia” is a time-honoured proclamation of this wonderful truth. 

May the risen Christ lead and guide you as we seek to follow him in our lives.  

With every blessing,  Dave

For our March magazine please follow this link.