Tidings

Tonight begins four days of worship that are the high point of the entire Christian year. I want to borrow liberally from one of Morgan’s emails to invite and encourage your participation in as many of these worship events as are meaningful to you.

Maundy Thursday Worship 7:30 pm
Tonight's service commemorates the last supper Jesus had with his disciples. The two acts associated with this supper are Holy Communion and footwashing. (The first three gospels all focus on the Last Supper; John’s gospel emphasizes the washing of feet —as a sign of humble servanthood.) Not everyone feels comfortable with footwashing. It's perfectly fine to sit back and watch as a visual meditation. If you feel led to participate, though, you'll most likely find it a powerful experience.

Good Friday  Stations of the Cross 9 am to 7 pm; Worship 7:30 pm
We have two worship activities to commemorate Good Friday: the daytime Stations of the Cross and our evening Tenebrae service. The Stations of the Cross is a Christian tradition in which we walk around the sanctuary past fourteen stations that describe the journey Jesus took to the cross. We have booklets with reflections for you to read as you walk, sit and pray. The sanctuary will be open from 9 am to 7 pm for your personal journey.

The Tenebrae service (the word means “shadows”) tomorrow evening at 7:30 is structured around 15 candles.  Fourteen are extinguished one by one as people read different portions of the story of Jesus' crucifixion. Only the Christ Candle remains.

Holy Saturday Worship 5 pm; Prayer Vigil 6 pm to midnight
Holy Saturday is the day that Jesus lay in the grave. Thus it's a day we remember the necessity of a painful waiting.  “What will happen in a world where the Son of God is absent?” Our Holy Saturday service will meet at the usual LifeSign service time of 5:00 pm, though it will NOT be a LifeSign "Easter service."  It will have a much more somber tone than usual. This is the only Saturday of the year that this service will not celebrate Communion.

After the service, we'll hold a prayer vigil from 6 pm to midnight in the Reflection Room. The vigil will combine structured liturgical prayer and Psalms readings with extemporaneous prayer. You are welcome to participate in silence or verbally.  You do not need to attend the whole time, it's fine to drop in.  We will celebrate Communion at midnight as Easter Sunday finally arrives.

Easter Sunday Worship 8:15, 9:45, 11:15 am
Our Easter service is always a time of great celebration; we'll celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with brass, handbells, singing, flowers, dance, preaching, and Holy Communion.

It's also a time when many members of the community will be visiting our church for the first time. Please be especially attentive to your hospitality on Easter and introduce yourself to anyone you don't recognize. You might be the one whom God has decided to use to welcome them into our church family.

We, your pastors, along with the entire staff, look forward to these days of observance and celebration with you. We wish you a Blessed Holy Week and a Joyous Easter!

 Pastor Larry