On this page
Easter messages and sermons
Please feel free to make use of the below messages in your parish magazine or on your church website where it is helpful to do so.
Easter message from the Bishop of Chelmsford
The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani has recorded an Easter message which can be shared in your church communications, watch below or view the video here.
A transcript of Bishop Guli's Easter message for 2025 can also be found here,
Easter sermon from the Bishop of Colchester
The Right Reverend Roger Morris has recorded an Easter sermon, which can be viewed here or watched below
Services across Essex and East London
AChurchNearYou.com lists details of services across the Diocese of Chelmsford.
Click on the button below and enter your postcode to find a church service near you.
How to update your 'A Church near you page'
Holy Week and Easter at Chelmsford Cathedral
The Holy Week preacher will be the new Dean of Chelmsford, the Very Revd Dr Jessica Martin. Her theme will be ‘Trusting Belief: Our Lives, God’s Story’ and will reflect on different aspects of the Nicene Creed.
Everyone is warmly invited to celebrate Holy Week and Easter at Chelmsford Cathedral.
-
Palm Sunday - Sunday 13th April
9.30am - Family Service with Palm Sunday craft making at Junior Church.
10.30am - The Procession of Palms.
11.00am - Choral Eucharist (following on from Procession of Palms).
3.30pm - Service of Music and Readings for Passiontide.
-
Holy Monday - Monday 14th April
7.00pm - Compline and Address: 'Trusting the God we Cannot See'.
-
Holy Tuesday - Tuesday 15th April
7.00pm - Compline and Address: 'The Very Thought of Jesus'.
-
Holy Wednesday - Wednesday 16th April
7.00pm - Choral Service of Tenebrae: a Meditation on Christ's Suffering.
-
Maundy Thursday - Thursday 17th April
11.00am - Diocesan Eucharist and Chrism Mass.
Clergy and LLMs are invited to reaffirm their vows and collect the consecrated oils to use in their churches.
7.00pm - Choral Maundy Thursday Eucharist with the Washing of Feet and Address.
8.00pm - The Watch will be held until Midnight.
-
Good Friday: Three Hour Service - Friday 18th April
12 noon - Music, Silence, and the Death of God.
The Dean will give three meditations on 'God's Story With Us' interspersed with music and silent prayer, between 12 noon and 1.45 pm. There will be a short break before the Good Friday Liturgy begins at 2 pm. All are welcome to come and go throughout the three hours as they need.
2.00pm - The Good Friday Liturgy. This service has its focus on the Cross of Christ.
-
Holy Saturday - Saturday 19th April
During this day we are silent before the empty cross until the evening falls.
7:00pm - The Great Easter Vigil, with Baptism and Confirmation. We witness to the light in the darkness that is the Resurrection.
-
Easter Day - Sunday 20th April
9.30am - All Age Eucharist for Easter. A family friendly Eucharist to celebrate Easter Sunday.
11.15am - Choral Eucharist for Easter Day with Bishop Guli.
3.30pm - Festal Choral Evensong. A traditional Choral Evensong with the Cathedral Choir to celebrate Easter Day.
For more details of all Cathedral services visit: www.chelmsfordcathedral.org.uk
Holy Week and Easter at Pleshey Retreat House
-
Holy Tuesday - Tuesday 15th April
10am- 4pm - The Drama of the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ.
Led by the Venerable Mike Power, Archdeacon of West Ham. Mike will take us on a journey through the events of Palm Sunday and Holy Week and explores how the drama of the liturgy draws us deeply into the events of Christ’s Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection.
For more information, or to book your place at this event, please visit The Pleshey Retreat House events page.
-
Holy Wednesday - Wednesday 16th April
10am- 4pm - A Quiet Day of reflection for Holy Week.
Led by Rev Brenda Wallace, experienced retreat leader and spiritual director. The day will include scripture, guided meditations, music, poetry, images, and time for silence and personal reflections.
For more information, or to book your place at this event, please visit The Pleshey Retreat House events page.
Resources for children, young people and families, collated by the Diocese of Chelmsford Mustard Seed Team
- Pinterest board for Lent, Holy Week and Easter by Mary Hawes
- Lent & Holy Week resources from BRF
- The Archbishops' Young Leader Award has six weeks of resources for schools including liturgical suggestions, Bible passage activity, video exploration, practical and prayerful actions, and additional ideas for connecting home, church and school. Find out more and sign up for these free resources here.
Ages: 0-5
- Beginner's Bible The Very First Easter: An Easter Book For Kids (Video version)
- Sing ‘We have a king who rides a donkey’ and make your own actions up for the words
- Download Easter bunny templates and craft ideas
- Make a paper plate donkey
- Paper plates Easter story for toddlers
Ages 5-7:
- Watch Three friends and the miracle man
- Decorate paper eggs with different coloured tissue squares to show the happiness and sadness of the Easter story
- Create an Easter garden individually or as a group or create them out of Lego or junk modelling materials. Here is a very basic one, or view bigger scale ones here
Ages 7-11:
- Watch this version of the Easter story
- Easter Resurrection in Rocks by Patti Rokus
- Make a God’s eye cross - Watch a video tutorial here
- An activity to use through Holy Week at home or school: Listen, look, act and pray through Holy Week slides. View here
Ages 11-17:
- Last Supper with Street Children image by Joey Velasco – Table of Hope
Links to other resources for further use:
- Easter trail resource
- Make Resurrection Rolls
- Dwell at Home Easter Resource traces the journey through Holy Week with readings, activities, thoughts and reflections using the headings: Breathe, Read, Wonder, Pray
- Good Friday sensory prayer stations
- Video: Why did Jesus have to die?
Some more versions of The Easter Story
Resources for churches
The Church of England has been working with dioceses and parishes to develop a range of resources to help churches, choirs and singing groups, communities and schools this Lent, Easter and Holy Week with 'Living Hope'.
The Church of England’s Lent theme for 2025 is Living Hope, which offers us the opportunity to deepen our hope in God and be part of what God is doing to bring hope in the world.
- Booklets for adults, and children and family resources: Ideal for giving away at services and using with groups, new printed Living Hope reflections booklets, prayer cards for adults and families are available to order now from Church House Publishing. You can also preview sample pages from the reflections booklet online.
-
Logos and design guidelines: Logo packs for print and digital are available to download here. The branding guidelines are designed to assist churches and organisations in making the most of the beautiful Living Hope branding.
-
There will be a range of Digital Labs resources available to churches. These will include our regular webinars tailored for Lent and Easter, blogs, how-to videos, and case studies.
-
Downloadable resources including activity sheets for children, social media covers and templates, 'What's On' and 'Keep in Touch' flyer templates, poster templates, and PowerPoint templates will be available from AChurchNearYou.com (login required).
-
Lent reflections content outline: A summary of the weekly themes that we will explore this Lent in the Everyday Faith app, for use by clergy and church staff when planning services and small group content.
-
Group resources: A plan for those looking to use the Living Hope Reflections with small groups, prayer groups or as a Lent course.
-
A directory of resources for use at home, church and school, provided by members of the Parachurch Organisations Network of the Growing Faith Foundation.
Resources for Individuals
- Reflections via email: Sign up to our Lent reflection emails and receive daily messages straight to your inbox. Our daily emails will offer Bible readings, short reflections and a practical challenge, as well as prayers linked to weekly themes.
- Daily reflections via Everyday Faith app: You can read and listen to daily Lent reflections from 5 March through the Everyday Faith app, the new daily devotional app from the Church of England, which is available to download here.
- Online services: Can't make it to church this Lent and Easter? Watch our weekly online worship services from across the Church of England and worship with us.
