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Welcome to our website! As
you look through our pages I hope that you will find out all the information
you need to know about us. The
Church of England parish of Forest Row and Ashurst Wood is set at the
northern edge of the Ashdown Forest IN West Sussex. The Parish straddles the
beginnings of the The
two churches in the parish, Holy Trinity, Forest Row and St. Dunstan’s,
Ashurst Wood, lie at the heart, physically and metaphorically, of the two
villages. These are in some ways traditional village churches, run by the
villagers and involved in the life of the local communities at every level.
However we hope that our worship reflects contemporary life and meets the
needs of people of all ages and backgrounds. Our aim is to be accessible to
all and to be places where all can come and hear of and experience something
of the love of God that we have found in Jesus and to join us on the journey
of faith. If
you are visiting the Villages for a holiday, for work or business or to
attend a course at one of our colleges or schools, please use this site to
drop in and join us on Sunday or at one of our events. Both churches are open
during the day and you are welcome to come in and be quiet, to pray and to
know God’s peace. Please
contact us if we can be of help in any way. We hope you enjoy your visit. Nick
Lamb PARISH NEWS FEB 2012 Dear Friends To be honest, February can be a bit
miserable! Cold, wet, grey and gloomy. But! The days are getting longer (it
is not so dark going for Morning Prayer!), the bulbs are shooting through the
grass, the bark of the dogwood is glowing deep red, ideas for the Spring are
forming in gardener’s minds and we are planning what to do with the summer
when it comes. There is nothing quite like hope to
spur us along. What do you hope for? Shrove Tuesday (Pancake day) is on
the 21 February this year and Ash
Wednesday, the next day, is the next day
(Easter is middleish this year on the 8
April). On Shrove Tuesday you were meant to ‘shrive’ your cupboards of food
before the fast of Lent began – thus the pancakes! Lent is the forty day period leading
up to Palm Sunday and holy Week, finishing with the joy of Easter Day. It is
a time of fasting, reflection, penitence and sorrow. Imagine how miserable
Lent would be without the hope of Easter? What a terrible lack of motivation with out the joy to look forward to? People with hope can
do and endure amazing things – the hope of rescue, the hope of love, the hope
of embrace, the hope of a good job, the hope of a good future, and more. For Christians, Jesus ‘for the joy
that was before him endured the cross, despising its shame’ (Hebrews 12)’
suffered for us and rose again at the first Easter simply on the basis of the
hope He had that He would rise from the dead and that there would be a
very long future for us all. Wonderful! So, what do you hope for that
will motivate you to get through February? You never know, joining us on our
Lenten pilgrimage could just be what you need. God bless you Nick Lamb |
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