On Sunday at 5.30pm we shall be holding a special service to celebrate the arrival of the Magi at the Manger: The Epiphany Procession. 

As the Bidding Prayer puts it:

We meet to celebrate the coming of Christ into the world. With the Magi we shall journey to Bethlehem to see the child Jesus; we shall honour in the infant king with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; and we shall wonder at the manifestation of God in human form. 

However, unlike the Magi, we shall not depart by another road nor shall we turn our attention to later moments in the life of Christ often celebrated in this season: the baptism of Jesus by John; the first of the signs of Christ at the wedding in Cana.

Instead we shall stay in Bethlehem, watching and waiting for the consequence of the visit of those Wise Men to Herod; we shall acknowledge the cruelty of power and the pain of grief; and we shall stand with all Holy Innocents past and present. 

And, having journeyed to Bethlehem and remained in Bethlehem, we shall commit ourselves that, journeying on, God will take us and use us in God’s service; that God will open our eyes to see the divine glory; that God will equip us to bless all people made in the image and likeness of God; and that will encourage us to shine with the light of Christ in the darker places of our world. 

With readings from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospel of Matthew, we shall hear again of the expected visitors bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh.

With music by Betty Jackson King, Peter Warlock, Peter Aston, Herbert Howells and Kenneth Leighton and singing the extra verses of 'We three kings' we shall mark the encounter and the impact of The Epiphany.

With silence and in prayer we shall remember The Massacre of the Innocents, past and present:

Heavenly Father,
whose children suffered at the hands of Herod,
though they had done no wrong:
give us grace neither to act cruelly
nor to stand indifferently by,
but to defend the weak from the tyranny of the strong;
in the name of Jesus Christ who suffered for us,
but is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Lots of incense will be used. 

As always, everyone is welcome. 

Dan Tyndall

19 January 2024