Orkney Episcopal

Category: Holy Week 2021

  • Walk of Witness 2021

    For many years, the Kirkwall Council of Churches has organised a Walk of Witness on Good Friday.  Beginning at our own church – St Olaf’s – we carry a cross and walk a route that takes us to each of the member churches in the town.  There’s a short service or time for reflection in each church, and we appreciate the opportunity to share with each other in our different styles of worship.  As we walk together, our denominational differences are forgotten and we are united in remembering that Christ died for us:

    “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

    In 2020, the pandemic brought us into a lockdown situation and our churches were closed.  But we still wanted to mark this important season in the Church year.  So, like many others, we decided to go online.

    This year, 2021, we find ourselves in a similar situation.  Even though some churches are able to meet in person, the severe restrictions on numbers and other considerations made us decide to take our Walk of Witness online once again.

    Follow the videos below to take that walk with us.

    St Olaf’s Scottish Episcopal Church

    East Church

    Peedie Kirk URC

    Kirkwall Baptist Church

    Our Lady and St Joseph

    Salvation Army

    St Magnus Cathedral

    Life Church

  • Holy Week 2021

    Kirkwall Council of Churches – Wednesday 31st March 2021

    Last year the coronavirus pandemic stopped us all in our tracks. From one day to the next our regular lives got suspended and we had to find new ways of doing things. It was a month later that the Holy Week began and the Kirkwall Council of Churches, like many others, decided to go online with our diet of worship.

    This year is not going to be much different, even though some churches are able to meet in person. The severe restrictions on numbers and other considerations made us decide to take the Holy Week services online once again.

    This is the third of the Holy Week reflections for 2021 and is led by Fr Bala.

  • Holy Week 2021

    Kirkwall Council of Churches – Tuesday 30th March 2021

    Last year the coronavirus pandemic stopped us all in our tracks. From one day to the next our regular lives got suspended and we had to find new ways of doing things. It was a month later that the Holy Week began and the Kirkwall Council of Churches, like many others, decided to go online with our diet of worship.

    This year is not going to be much different, even though some churches are able to meet in person. The severe restrictions on numbers and other considerations made us decide to take the Holy Week services online once again.

    This is the second of the Holy Week reflections for 2021 and is led by Hannah Rendall.

  • Holy Week 2021

    Kirkwall Council of Churches – Monday 29th March 2021

    Last year the coronavirus pandemic stopped us all in our tracks. From one day to the next our regular lives got suspended and we had to find new ways of doing things. It was a month later that the Holy Week began and the Kirkwall Council of Churches, like many others, decided to go online with our diet of worship.

    This year is not going to be much different, even though some churches are able to meet in person. The severe restrictions on numbers and other considerations made us decide to take the Holy Week services online once again.

    This is the first of the Holy Week reflections for 2021 and is led by Rev Dr Marjory MacLean.

  • Holy Week 2021

    Holy Week 2021

    During Holy Week, it’s been the practice of the Kirkwall Council of Churches to host a number of services during the week. The lunchtime Reflections in St Magnus Cathedral are led by church leaders and lay people from around Orkney and provide an opportunity to pause for a while and explore aspects of the Easter story. On Good Friday, there’s also a Walk of Witness which visits each of the eight member churches in turn, with each church preparing a short time of worship. And on Easter Sunday, early in the morning, the Salvation Army lead us in a joyful service at the top of Wideford Hill!

    Unfortunately, this year (as with last year) our Holy Week services are having to be hosted online. Rev Julia Meason, secretary to the Kirkwall Council of Churches, says:

    Last year the coronavirus pandemic stopped us all in our tracks. From one day to the next our regular lives got suspended and we had to find new ways of doing things. It was a month later that Holy Week began and the Kirkwall Council of Churches, like many others, decided to go online with our diet of worship.

    This year is not going to be much different, even though some churches are able to meet in person. The severe restrictions on numbers and other considerations made us decide to take our Holy Week services online once again.

    On Monday 29th, Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st March the ecumenical reflections are going to appear on the Kirkwall Council of Churches Facebook page. They will be led by worship leaders from different denominations – but we’re not going to reveal who they are: just come along and see for yourself the great richness and diversity of the Body of Christ!

    On 2nd April, the Good Friday Walk of Witness will have 10-minute services from the 8 member churches of the KCC. They will be appearing from 8 am on our Facebook page.

    For Easter Sunday we are going to record a short video with the Salvation Army playing ‘Thine be the glory’, and the account of the Easter events will be read. We look forward to celebrating this greatest festival of the Christian year – and the events leading up to it – with you. You are most welcome to join us whether you can do so for the whole of Holy Week or for certain parts of it. May you be blessed in this journey.