Vigil & Service of Light

Name: Vigil & Service of Light
Start: 2026-04-04T19:00:00+01:00
Location: The Ark, St Laurence Church, B48 7SB Alvechurch, United Kingdom

Schedule

Sat, 04 Apr, 2026 at 07:00 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

The Ark, St Laurence Church, B48 7SB Alvechurch, United Kingdom | Alvechurch, EN

As dusk falls on Holy Saturday, we gather in St Laurence Church for the Easter Vigil, an ancient and deeply moving service that bridges the sorrow of Good Friday with the joy of Easter.
This year, rather than gathering outdoors, we will meet in the gentle half-light of the church. In the stillness, we will listen to a sequence of scripture readings that tell the great story of God’s faithfulness from creation, through promise and rescue, and into the hope of the New Testament. These readings are not rushed. They are meant to be heard as a journey: a reminder that God has been at work through every generation, even when the world has felt uncertain or dark. As the vigil reaches its climax, we move into the Service of Light.
In the Jewish understanding of time, a new day begins at sunset, which means that Easter begins not in the morning, but in the night. The resurrection does not wait for dawn. It breaks into the world as soon as the third day arrives.
We will light the Paschal Candle, the great symbol of the risen Christ, and carry that flame through the church. It is a powerful moment: light entering darkness, hope entering grief, life entering death.
As part of this service, we will also renew our baptismal vows, joining the tradition of the early church, where
Easter was the great
moment of baptism, new
beginnings, and belonging.
The Easter Vigil is often
described as one of the
most beautiful services of
the Christian year. It
invites us to wait, to listen,
and to step into the
mystery of Easter trusting
that even in the darkest
moments, God’s light is
not extinguished.
And the story continues on Easter morning, when we gather again to celebrate the joy of resurrection in full.