CHRISTIANS in Bournemouth town centre are meeting every day as they consider the significance of Lent.

The parish is following the Bishop of Winchester’s Lent course, called Living the Mission of Jesus.

There are group meetings, using five church bases, each weekday.

Town centre rector the Rev Ian Terry said: “To get the best out of anything important, one needs to prepare carefully. So it is that preparing for the annual remembrance of the significance of Jesus' death and resurrection, in Holy Week and at Easter, is a priority, and has been throughout the ages, for Christians.

“Lent is a springtime for Christians, when we allow the light of Christ to shine on our lives, and we refocus our prayers, our reading of the scriptures and our shared life together, with a sharp moral focus, and a desire to be more open to God's will for each of us.”

Meetings are held on Mondays, 3pm, at 4 St Augustin’s Road; Tuesdays, 7.30pm, at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Richmond Hill; Wednesdays, 2pm, at St Peter’s Church; Thursdays, 10am, at St Andrew’s Chapel at Richmond Hill St Andrew’s United Reformed Church; and Fridays, 10am, at St Stephen’s Church vestry. All are welcome.

Sunday sermons will prepare for the explorations of faith in the group meetings by looking at Gospel readings. The sermons will be asking about the readings’ relevance to worshippers’ lives.

Dr Terry said preparations for Holy Week had begun on Ash Wednesday.

He said it was “a time when Christians, solemnly but joyfully, recommit themselves to coming closer to Jesus during Lent, and seeking his will for us, and for our town, is as relevant today as it has ever been”.

The occasion was marked by a Sung Eucharist with St Peter’s Choirs and the Bournemouth University Chamber Choir.