St Thomas à Becket
Pews News
Priest-in-Charge: The Reverend Lucy Sullivan
Tel: 01243 941 551 Email: mthrlucy.pagham@gmail.com (Rest day: Friday)
Churchwarden: Mr Alex Brockhurst
Tel: 07792 544259.; Email: churchwarden@paghamchurch.org
Churchwarden: Mr Mike Wake
Tel: 07899 705632; Email: churchwarden@paghamchurch.org
Safeguarding Officer: Mrs Jan Brockhurst
Email: safeguarding@paghamchurch.org
Find us online: www.paghamchurch.org // @StThomasPagham
Registered charity number 1134842
SUNDAY 26th march 2023
fifth SUNDAY of lent
Sunday 26th 08:00 Holy Communion (St Richard’s only)
LENT 5 09:30 Parish Eucharist
17:30 Stations of the Cross (St Richard’s Church)
Monday 27th 09:00 Morning Prayer (Church)
19:30 Lent Group 4 (St Richard’s Committee Room)
Tuesday 28th 17:30 Evening Prayer (Zoom)
19:00 Tuesday@7
Wednesday 29th 11:00 Lent Group 4
(Pagham Parish Church Centre, Nyetimber Lane)
17:30 Evening Prayer (Zoom)
Thursday 30th 09:00 Morning Prayer (church)
10:00 Holy Communion
12:00 Funeral of Terry Haskell RIP
12:00- 14:00 Christian Aid Lent Lunch
(Pagham Parish Church Centre, Nyetimber Lane)
Friday 31st No public services today
Saturday 1st April 12:00 Passion Gospel reading rehearsal
Sunday 2nd 08:00 Holy Communion (Pagham church)
PALM SUNDAY 09:30 Parish Family Eucharist
(Service starts in Churchyard)
15:30 Procession of Palms from Pagham
+ Supper in Mosse Hall (Details inside)
Hymns
Entrance: 310 I heard the voice of Jesus say
Gradual: 657 There is a green hill far away
Offertory: 333 It is a thing most wonderful (omit vs 3 & 4)
Final: 738 When I survey the wonderous Cross
The Collection plate– If you would like to make an offering, please use the contactless Payaz machine or the collection plate, both can be found by the door. Thank you for your generosity.
The Collect (Opening Prayer) for the Fifth Sunday:
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 37: 1- 14
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’
Psalm 130 the response to the psalm is “With the Lord there is mercy and plenteous redemption”
New Testament reading: Romans 8: 6- 11
To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Gospel reading: John 11: 1- 45
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’
When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who
came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’ Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
Prayers of Intercession
The sick and those who care for them: Rosie Sims, Barbara Crew, Karen Cox, Jim Fowler, Sheila King, Dawn Spurway Pearson, Nicola Simpson, Betty Smith, Mike Hatzfeld, Andrew Naylor, Colin May, Tyler Rankin, Max Davey, Leslie Francis, Dickie Roots, Elizabeth, Pam Browning, Margaret Easton.
Recently departed: Terry Haskell, Geoff Ide.
Anniversary of death: Kenneth Winfield (27th); Frank Myatt (28th); Jean Jackson (29th); John Griffin (30th); Amelia Rutterford, Harold Archer, Frank Hope (31st); Adrian Smith (1st April).
We pray for Geoff Ide, who died earlier this week. He and his wife Jean were active and enthusiastic members of this church family over many years, until moving away to be nearer family. Geoff will be particularly remembered for all the years he spent editing the Good News news sheet around the parish,
We pray for peace and especially for and with the people of Ukraine. We pray for all those caught up in conflict, and for those seeking safety and refuge on these shores.
For urgent prayer, contact Gillian Purvis (267597) or Pat Rush (262561) to start the Prayer Chain.
Post Communion Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters we do also for you: give us the will to be the servant of others as you were the servant of all, and gave up your life and died for us, but are alive and reign, now and for ever. Amen.
Next week’s readings: Palm Sunday
Liturgy of the Palms: Matthew 21: 1- 11
Liturgy of the Passion: Philippians 2: 5- 11; Matthew 26: 14- end of 27.
Churchyard As the weather scuppered last week’s gardening efforts there will be a session in the churchyard on Monday 27th March, weather permitting, starting at 9.30am until about lunchtime for grass cutting and a general tidy up before the Community Payback Team starts the week after. If you are free, please come along to help. Please contact churchwardens Alex or Mike for more details (contact details on front page).
Christian Aid Lent Lunches The last Lent Lunch is this week- Thursday 30th March 12noon- 2pm, at The Pagham Parish Church Centre on Nyetimber Lane. Warming soup lunch with fresh bread, teas & coffees and a warm welcome! Bring a friend. Pay what you feel- all profits to Christian Aid.
Bognor Churches Together Walk of Witness If you’re not planning on being with us for the Children’s Good Friday Workshop (10:30- 12) on the 7th April, then you might like to take part in the Walk of Witness. Starting at 10am at Bognor Regis Methodist Church the walk goes through the High Street before ending at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church for worship and refreshments.
Pagham Luncheon Club The next gathering is on the 5th April- open to all residents of the parish and friends. 12:00- 14:00 at St Ninians for a lunch provided by The Bear and good company, at £9 per head. The Pagham Minibus is available for lifts to this gathering. For more information and book-in please call Jean Hunt on 01243 268 818.
Being With- Course Exploring Christian Faith and Life We will be running a course for those exploring the Christian faith after Easter, starting on Monday 15th May and running for the next 11 weeks (10 sessions in total 19:30- 21:00, no session on Monday 29th May). Devised and created by Samuel Wells and Sally Hitchiner of St Martin-in-the-Fields. The course is an introduction to Christianity with a difference. At its heart is the idea that God’s greatest desire is to be with us in Jesus. I am seeking those who might be interested in help run the course- whether as a leader or as someone who can help with the hospitality and welcome at sessions. Could this be you? If so, please speak with Mthr Lucy.
Pagham Pre-School After few months of conversation and preparation I can share we are to welcome a new pre-school to use the Church Centre. The Pagham Pre-School will open after Easter and is a new venture for owner Sam, who runs a similar setting in the Witterings.