THE Bishop of St Asaph will be celebrating Easter with a series of online services available to all.

The Rt Revd Gregory Cameron has recorded services for the Easter weekend from his chapel next door to the Cathedral in St Asaph.

They are available via the Diocese of St Asaph’s website: https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/

With all churches closed and public worship suspended due to the coronavirus lockdown, one of the most important festival of the Christian Church will be celebrated online.

In usual times, Easter Sunday morning services are among the most popular in the church calendar.

In a series of pastoral letters, Bishop Gregory has encouraged people to continue with the Easter schedule of services.

He said: “I am already feeling disappointed that the lockdown means that celebrations of Easter, the Queen of Feasts, will be muted this week.

"Just when I would be preparing for the moving ceremonies of the Chrism Eucharist and Easter Vigil, not to mention Good Friday, I am conscious of the need to minister to a scattered family, where the future is more unclear than ever before.

"At the same time, I am given a huge privilege and opportunity, with the help of colleagues, to speak to all of you through the recording of liturgies so that services will be available for the Triduum – the three great days of the liturgy of the Passion."

In a pastoral letter from April 1, Bishop Gregory said: “I urge you all to renew your faith in the risen Lord. I urge you…to travel with Jesus through Jerusalem to Gethsemane and beyond. I urge you to hold out your hand that the Lord may take it, whatever paths we have to walk, that he may impart hope and love and grace.”

In addition, Bishop Gregory has recorded a special sermon which will be available to inmates and staff inside the UK’s largest prison, HMP Berwyn in Wrexham.

He has arranged for a chocolate Easter egg to be delivered to those inside as a gift from the Diocese of St Asaph.

In his sermon for the prison’s Easter morning service, Bishop Gregory explains why he is sending that gift.

The Bishop of St Asaph has recorded a service from his chapel in St Asaph every week since public worship was suspended in churches on March 18.

You can watch all the services at https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/coronavirus/digital-prayer-and-worship/worship-from-esgobty/

Priests across the diocese have found new ways of ministering to their congregations during the Coronavirus lockdown. Many have taken to live-streaming services either from their home or inside their locked church. Services have also been broadcast for use in the many church schools that remain open for the children of key workers.

You can find details on the dedicated Coronavirus section of the diocesan website at https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/coronavirus/

The Diocese of St Asaph is one of the six dioceses of the Church in Wales, an independent Province of the Anglican Communion. In usual times, regular services and activities take place in 214 churches and the diocese looks after 50 Church in Wales Schools.