We are invited to join in to support this united prayer initiative being hosted by the Christian Churches of Christchurch:

A message from the Christian Churches of Christchurch :-

“Churches Together Online Prayer Gathering – This Is VERY! Exciting…

Back in January, 170 of us gathered at GodFirst for the first of four churches together prayer gatherings!  The next one is scheduled for Sunday 03 May, 7pm.  It will be happening, online.  Please make every effort to join us via Zoom.  This is the link:
 https://zoom.us/j/99703626513?pwd=a2lMQ0ZPWi9kTEZxc29OVnJ4RnFGZz09 

We are anticipating that 250+ will join us as we pray together for our town and our churches.  The event will be hosted by Chris Brockway and six other church leaders.   We will be sharing Communion together too as a sign of our unity, so please have some bread and wine with you.  Please plan to join us for the first online and largest prayer gathering Christchurch has ever had!  “

A Second Message from Deacon Hugh about Father John

GOOD NEWS

Following my message yesterday, I am pleased to report that Father John was discharged from Royal Bournemouth Hospital late last night after a series of tests. These tests appear to have ruled out a number of things, but the result is that he now needs rest in order to recover and this may take 6 to 8 weeks.

With the emphasis being on rest, I would ask that you continue to leave him to recover and not contact him personally for the time being. Please feel free to continue to contact me at any time and, should the services of a Priest be required, I will be happy to make contact for you.

As soon as Father John is able to gradually resume his duties, we will let you know.

​God Bless

Hugh

• Would you like someone to pray with you or for you?
• Are you in need of a listening ear?
• Are you a busy key worker in need of prayer?

If your answer to any of these is “Yes”, we invite you to make use of our diocese’s new Prayer Support Team

Prayer and listening to God is a vital part of our everyday life, but sometimes it is difficult to pray when we are exhausted or in stressful situations or by ourselves.  Our diocese has created a team with experience in both praying with others and in spiritual listening.  All of our volunteers are trained in this service and have been through the essential safeguarding training and other requirements.   To make use of this free service, all you need to do is fill in a short form on the diocese website requesting a phone call, of 10 – 15 minutes usually.   

Additionally, if you are a key worker, you are invited to give us your name and work place and we will pray for you by name each day. 

Contact the Prayer Support Team to take up any of these offers

St Joseph’s First Holy Communion children have been busy creating their own Easter Gardens and are delighted to share their photos of these with you. 

Well done, everyone – they are great!

Each child has also received a letter and an Easter egg from the parish team.

Background vector created by starline – www.freepik.com

Stations of the Cross is a traditional devotion for Good Friday.

We have various forms of it on our Stations of the Cross page, including a brand new one especially for children recorded by our own parishioners of St Joseph’s, Christchurch
 

Proclaim the message of Easter to your neighbours

You are invited to download and print this poster (A4 pdf) and display it in your window for all passers-by to see. (Why not display more than one…?)

Don’t forget that Eastertide lasts for 50 days – from Easter Sunday right up until Pentecost Sunday (31st May this year), so you can keep your poster(s) up all that time.

Image: the photo is of the Sea of Galilee at sunrise, taken on our recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land 

Couldn’t get your usual Holy Week poster from church to display in your window?  Here is one we’ve made for you.  

Anyone is welcome to download and use it – the copyright of the image is free (as long as the text at the bottom is kept on)

Download poster (A4 pdf)

 

 

We now have a new webpage giving various resources to help you follow Stations of the Cross, including video versions.

You can access it from our “When you can’t go to Mass” page

Redemptorist Publications have just made available a FREE one-hour Stations of the Cross video, available on our On-line retreats, courses and reflections page

Why not make time for this devotion over the next 10 days, either in one session or spread out over several?