Welcome to Wallington United Reformed Church

Welcome to
Wallington United Reformed Church
Working for God in Wallington and Carshalton

Easter services at WURC

Maundy Thursday, April 2, at 20.00
Joint service with St Andrew's URC, at Wallington, led by Rev Craig Bowman.

Good Friday, April 3, 10.00 to 12.00
'Good Friday Happening'. Join us for worship, family activities and hot cross buns.

Easter Day, Sunday April 5, at 10.30
Family worship with Holy Communion, led by Rev Craig Bowman.

Worship with WURC

Sunday April 5
Easter Day
Family Service with Holy Communion
led by Rev Craig Bowman
starting at 10.30

Join us after the service
for a time of fellowship
over coffee or tea

Contact
April issue now available

Please contact the Minister or Elders
if you would like further advice
and/or pastoral care.

Whither WURC: what does it
mean to "be church"?
We are currently reflecting on the life of our church,
and the challenges of the post-Covid era, while seeking to
discern what God is calling us to do in Wallington and the wider community.
For more details listen to Craig's sermons of September 15
and November 17. Recordings of the full services
can be found in the Worship Resources section.

Letter from our Minister

Dear Friends,
Whilst looking ahead to Holy Week and Easter, I have been revisiting some photos I took seven years ago when Louise, Thomas and I visited Barcelona.

Whilst there, we visited the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi's amazing church which is finally due to be completed this year - 100 years after his death. One side of the church is the Passion Façade, and one of the sculptures is a depiction of Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss. Next to it is a magic square, filled with numbers. This is the work of sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs, who joined the construction team in 1989. A magic square is a series of numbers on a square grid, placed so that any row, column or diagonal line always adds up to the same total. In a 'normal' 4x4 square, with numbers 1 to 16, the magic constant would be 34. However, this one doesn't meet the basic rules, and the magic constant isn't 34 but 33. This is a reference to the age at which Jesus is believed to have died.

There on the Passion Façade of the Sagrada Familia, and in several other locations in the church, is a reference to a human life cut short; a reminder that life is precarious and power, fear and self interest will take drastic and dangerous action. Something that is normally understood in a particular way is seen to be something different - a visual and mental reminder of the death of Jesus and the fragility of life. Yet, isn't that exactly what we are celebrating in this remarkable season of Easter - that things aren't what they seem.

The death of Christ upon the cross is not the end to a remarkable and miraculous life but the gateway to life - a life that triumphs over all things, even death! It is not the nightmare ending of a dream grasped by 12 men and their followers but an awakening to a whole new understanding of life and the dawning of a new age. Indeed, this is the way of God, not conforming to the ways of the world but turning them on their heads. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about it and, of course, we see it not only at the end of Jesus' earthly life but also at its beginning - the King of the Universe born as a baby in a stable in a backward town.

As we journey through Holy Week and celebrate Easter may we be open to God coming to us in surprising ways and recognising him in familiar things given new meaning.
Rev Craig Bowman