Services for Maundy Thursday take place throughout the day at our churches in the Launde Deanery Community – See all the details here:

Good Friday and Easter Sunday

Two services at St Peter’s Church this Easter and a family service for children at Thorpe Langton on Sunday 12th April, as some of our families are away over the holidays. Everyone welcome.

• Good Friday Reflection, 2pm – 3pm and
• Easter Sunday 5th April 11.00am

Maundy Thursday

This day marks the events which lead up to Jesus’ death by crucifixion. We remember his last meal with his closest friends, his agony at prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, preparing for the inevitable torture and death which was to come; his betrayal by Judas and the long hours overnight after his arrest and the denial of him by Peter as the cockerel crowed at dawn. It is a harrowing story, recounted in the four gospels and never easy to read.

What happens at services on Maundy Thursday?

The name, ‘Maundy’, comes from the Latin mandatum (commandment), recalling John 13:34, “Love one another as I have loved you”.

Typically, services are Holy Communion services, where we remember the Last Supper, where Jesus explained to his disciples what was going to happen. He told them that the bread and wine were his body and blood, shed for everyone.

He told them how important it is to serve and care for each other and washed their feet. Many services continue this practice for penitents today.

Finally, services finish with a solemn task of stripping the altar, so the church is bare and stark to remember his death on the cross the next day

Maundy Thursday in the UK

Traditionally, in the UK, the reigning monarch distributes ‘Maundy Money’ as a gift of alms to the elderly. These little pouches of silver coins acknowledge service and dedication by the recipient. We were delighted when a resident of our village received this special gift from the late Queen Elizabeth II when she celebrated Maundy Thursday at Leicester Cathedral in 2017. The recipient’s name was put forward for her long service to St Peter’s and now in her 90s, still attends church regularly. A very much loved and well deserving recipient of the most special gift.

The Church of England has a really useful guide online called Maundy Thursday Fact File which you might enjoy reading