Church leader says move to fix Easter date is "no brainer"

Reverend Canon Tim Sledge, Vicar of Romsey, expressed his delight that church leaders across the world are thinking of getting rid of 2,000 years of controversy.

It comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, said that Anglican leaders would join discussions with other church leaders to fix the date for the first time.

At present, Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox around March 21. This means it can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25.

Now they hope to tie it down to a Sunday in the spring.

It is expected that the changes could take place anytime between the next five to 10 years.

There have been several attempts in the past to fix the holiday to a specific date but each one has failed.

Revd Sledge said it would help the church speak with one voice adding it was “a meeting of minds”.

He added that schools would benefit from having term times fixed in the spring.

He said: “I think it’s a really, really good idea.”

“Anything that bring churches together, working together, focusing on similarities rather than differences has to be a good thing.”

When asked if he thought there are bigger issues for the church to be concentrating on he said: “I completely agree there are. There’s no doubt that over the last few days we’re grappling with some really big issues.

“This is a relatively small issue but I think it’s one that’s quite important as well. It helps us to work together with local businesses and local schools for holidays. We can speak with one voice.”

He added: “The impetus has come from the Eastern church and the Orthodox church. I think it’s a sign of the key church leaders meeting more together discussing thinks. It’s a relatively easy thing to do.”

While he admitted there may be some opposition he added that most of the comments he’d received in the church about this “have all been positive”.