Welcome to Kettle & Fish – we hope and pray that your visit today is a very special one. Great news – K&F will be here in St Peter’s every Thursday in March! There’s a lot of news to share this month. First of all, a big thanks to Eleanor who has produced these Kettle & Fish bulletins for a long, long time, with great enthusiasm and imagination. A new guest editor is moving in provisionally.

During March the churches in the town follow the season of Lent. In our everyday lives we have blood tests and are screened for various conditions quite normally. In a similar way, the period of Lent for Christians gives the opportunity to have a spiritual check-up, to assess how or if our spiritual lives are progressing, to detect areas that need sorting and others where we can see that growth has taken place. We recommend the practice to everyone – and, as you know, if there are matters you would like to talk through with someone, about faith, life, things that weigh heavy on your heart, there is a team of folk here, recognisable by their badges, who will be only too pleased to chat with you. We would love to pray with you too – it would be a privilege for us and hopefully a blessing to you.

The first week of March is the second week of Fair Trade fortnight, and that links in very well with the principles of Lent. Our Fair Trade stall is always very well stocked and is the best dedicated outlet for such goods in the town. An important meeting of our umbrella organisation, Churches Together in Sudbury & District takes

place on the evening of 4 March, and the main topic on the agenda is how we can encourage young folk towards faith. Our deepest desire is to find ways of showing them the joy, peace and sense of forgiveness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

And speaking of Him brings us to the climax of Lent, and the most important festival in the churches’ year – Easter, when we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, Son of God. Ever since the beginning of the year, a big team of church folk has been preparing for Easter Story. This is a re-enactment of the events of Easter that takes to the streets on Easter Saturday, 3 April from 11am. Our aim is to bring to the notice of the people of Sudbury the facts, consequences and repercussions of those events and remind them of God’s love for us, which entailed the death and rising again of His Son. Hallelujah! Jesus’ death is remembered in church services on Good Friday, 2 April. One or two churches are having sunrise services (and breakfasts) on Easter Sunday to celebrate the beginning of that most special day.

Friday 5 March, at 10am in St Gregory’s Church, was the Women’s World Day of Prayer. This should be a very lively occasion – there were drums! – when women the world over joined together to focus their prayers on issues of importance to them – this year it was on discrimination against and lack of equality for women in Cameroon.

So, March brings the opportunity for a bit of introspection and taking stock and a lot of activity. We all need to do it. It’s a no-brainer to ignore our wonderful God – Come close to God and he will come close to you (James 4.8). Try it and see.

Malcolm Offord, Chairman Kettle & Fish