Good Friday and Easter Sunday

Good Friday's Walk of Witness begins at 12.00pm at the Salvation Army on Butt Road. The walk will follow the Salvation Army Band who will play for some of the route and then lead in silence.The walk will conclude at the Castle gates with a short act of devotion, to be addressed by Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford.

It is always a moving experience to be among the group of walkers marking Good Friday at exactly the time when Jesus went to the cross.

In the evening there is a combined service at the Mercury Theatre beginning at 7.30pm. This is a free event, but an offering will be taken up at the end.

Easter is traditionally the season for new baptisms and renewal of Baptism promises and this Easter Sunday will feature a bunch of Baptisms!

In the morning at 10.30am at Abbeygate Two, Gideon Parker will be baptised as part of the Easter Worship. This will be a Communion Service with a reflection on John 20, 1-18, together with Romans 8, 11 and 1 Corinthians 15, 20. Amanda Parker will be explaining why she and Alex are bringing Gideon to baptism as a child- this will be interesting, as she used to think baptism was only for adults! We know that our community embraces different views about baptism; whatever your views, someone else will think differently, but we have all respected one another's take on this matter. Some of the Barn Church young people have been busy practising some music to lead off the worship and some actors are warming up so that the Apostle Peter and Mary Magdalene make an appearance.

Later on at 5pm, Mandy, David, Sheri, Betty, Glory and Isaac will be baptised in the pool at St Stephen's Church, Canterbury Road, Colchester. They will each make promises of commitment to Jesus and will explain why they are choosing to be baptised before heading into the pool. Guaranteed to be interesting and moving stories! Once they have dried off, we will have opportunity to pray for each person and to bring scriptures, prophecies and words of encouragement to them. Please be in prayer already to listen out for words to share. The church will be open from 4.30pm.