Welcome to the April edition of Parish Pump.
It was great to meet so many of you on our stand at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Exeter in late February. We were also delighted to talk to a good number of church magazine editors in the Southwest who had heard of us, and who will now be joining Parish Pump.
April brings us Holy Week and Easter, and we have a wide range of material on every aspect of this most special, glorious week of the year.
Sadly, there seems little hope that the war in Ukraine will be over by then, and so we also offer you a selection of church leaders’ reactions to the conflict, as well as charities through whom you can support Ukraine, and prayers for the people of Ukraine.
This is a worrying time for the whole world, and so this month I want to close with some verses from Psalm 46. It reminds us that in times of trouble, each one of us can still look to God for refuge. The earth may be in uproar, but He is in ultimate control.
Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,…
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress….
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
May God bless you and guard you this month, and may this Easter bring you the love, the solace and the grace of Jesus Christ.
Easter greetings from
Anne Coomes and the Parish Pump Team