Eastern Hills welcomes everyone. We enjoy simple services following the liturgical calendar. Please feel free to join us at 10:15am for a Fairtrade cuppa before the service begins at 10:30am. CCC 17-19 Surrey Road West, Croydon.
We have optional programs for kids from 12 months to primary school running during the teaching time of our services as well as youth bible study on Sundays indicated below.
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January
Sunday January 24 – Picnic Service at Ringwood Lake
11am. BYO picnic, chairs and sports gear.
Sunday January 31 – Summer meditations with Tol Morgan. (Youth Bible Study)
10:30am at 17- 19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
February
Sunday February 7 – Dinner Service – Shrove Style Feast.
5pm – 6:30pm at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
Please bring a savoury dish to share if you can. (Please label if it contains eggs or nuts.)
The day before Lent starts is Shrove Tuesday (Feb 9) or Pancake Tuesday. Traditionally it is a day of celebration and eating up all the rich food in your house before fasting or eating more simply during the season of Lent. It is also known by the French term Mardi Gras, meaning ‘Fat Tuesday’ celebrated in many places with parades, costumes, dancing, and music. ‘Shrove’ means your sins are forgiven. Many years ago people would go to church on this day to be shriven – to confess their sins and be forgiven in preparation for a season of drawing closer to God.
Sunday February 14 – Ash Sunday Service
10:30am at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
A gentle and reflective service in anticipation of Ash Wednesday (Feb 17). Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter Sunday, marks the first day of the Season of Lent. Its name comes from the ancient practice of placing ashes on worshippers’ heads or foreheads as a sign of humility before God, a symbol of mourning and sorrow at the death that sin brings into the world. As we prepare to journey through lent and celebrate Easter we remember that we need God’s grace and forgiveness and transforming presence in our lives in order to live a life that reflects God’s love.
Sunday February 21 – Lent week 2
10:30am at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
Sunday February 28 – Lent week 3 (Youth Bible study)
10:30am at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
March
Sunday March 6 – Passover style Feast
5pm – 6:30pm at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
Please bring a savoury dish to share if you can. (Please label if it contains eggs or nuts.)
We celebrate Passover a little early with our take on this special feast!
The last supper that Jesus shared with his disciples was the Passover feast. Traditionally the church celebrates this on the Thursday before Easter Friday, Maundy Thursday (March 24).
Sunday March 13 – Lent week 5
10:30am at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
Sunday March 20 – Lent week 6
10:30am at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
Good Friday March 25 – Tenebrae Service
8:45am at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
Communion and gallery of artwork.
Hot crossed buns to follow.
Please wear dark colours of mourning and be there early for 9am start.
Easter Sunday March 27 – Easter Celebration
10:30am at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
Worship service for all ages featuring the ‘Greening of the Cross’ and Easter egg hunt.
April
Sunday April 3 – Easter 2 Feast – Jesus shows up
5pm – 6:30pm at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
Please bring a savoury dish to share if you can. (Please label if it contains eggs or nuts.)
The traditional reading for this day is the wonderful account of the resurrected Jesus appearing to his friends behind closed doors and the brave questions of Thomas (John 20:19-31). We toast to Thomas, to scars, to the breath of Jesus.
Sunday April 10 – Easter 3
10:30am at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
Sunday April 17 – Easter 4
10:30am at 17-19 Surrey Rd West, Croydon.
Sunday April 24 – NO SERVICE due to church camp.
An Introduction to Lent
Lent has a long history. It began in the early church as a time for those who were going to be baptized to prepare themselves for baptism and full acceptance into the church. It was a time for fasting and prayer as well as a time for them to study and learn about Jesus and what it means to be a part of the church. (Baptism happened only once a year on the day before Easter) Eventually everyone in the church joined in this practice as a way of showing fellowship and support for the new believers. It became an official season of the church calendar and was established as a 40 days of preparation to celebrate Easter. The forty days are representative of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for his ministry.
It is a time to reflect on Christ’s life and example, to turn from sin, to renew our commitments and our faith, to celebrate God’s redemptive and life-giving presence with us. The church has traditionally made this journey through a focus on prayer, (justice towards God) fasting (Justice towards ourselves) and giving (Justice towards others).
So the time of Lent is really about growth. The word Lent means “Spring” or “springtime”. Just as spring is a time when we plant seeds and bury them in darkness it is a time when we plant ourselves in God and focus on and repent of the darkness in ourselves and in our world. It is a time when we can grow and become a thing of beauty and restoration to the world around us.
Lent is really about going through a process that should change us, that should bring us closer to being fully the people God has called us and created us to be.
We hope that this journey to Easter draws us together as a community and draws us deeper into the truth of our faith and the reality of what God has done and is doing.
We pray that we may grow to know the strength of God’s new-life power, his resurrection power that makes his reality possible in our reality.
Information collated from Dennis Bratcher http://www.crivoice.org/index.html
and Beth Stedman http://bethstedman.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/lent-an-introduction-a-little-bit-of-history