Please join us for Holy Week services during the week of April 2 – 9.

Descriptions of the services are below.

Note that there will not be a noon Eucharist service on Holy Wednesday (April 5); and there will be no Children’s Church program for Easter Sunday (April 9).

 

Day	Date	Time	Description
Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday	April 2	10:00 a.m.	Passion According to Matthew; Holy Eucharist
Holy Wednesday	April 5		No noon service
Maundy Thursday	April 6	6:00 p.m.	Holy Eucharist with the Stripping of the Altar
Good Friday	April 7	3:00 p.m.	Good Friday Liturgy with the Passion According to John, Solemn Collects, and the Veneration of the Cross
Holy Saturday	April 8	10:00 a.m.	Holy Saturday Liturgy (Led by Daughters of the King)
Easter Sunday	April 9	10:00 a.m.	Holy Eucharist, no Children’s Church

 

Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday, April 2

Gather at 9:50 in the parking lot for the palm liturgy.
Palms will be blessed and distributed, and we will
process through the front door of the church into the
nave while singing “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.”

We will read the Passion According to Matthew in
parts with all the congregation participating in the
reading. This is the beginning of Holy Week, the
holiest week of the year.

 

Maundy Thursday, April 6

The Maundy Thursday service begins at 6:00 p.m.
This is the night that begins the Great Three Days of
Holy Week, when we commemorate the Paschal
Mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. The word
“Maundy” comes from the Latin “mandare, to
command.” Jesus gave the New Commandment on
this night, telling his disciples to “Love one another
as I have loved you.” As he shares the ceremonial
meal with them on this night, giving himself in forms
of bread and wine, he tells them, “Do this in
remembrance of me.” After stripping the altar, we
leave the starkly empty church in silence.

 

Good Friday, April 7

Our Good Friday service begins at 3:00 p.m., the
hour of the death of Jesus on the Friday before his
resurrection. This is a most solemn but simple
service, with no celebration of the Eucharist. The
congregation reads the Passion According to John in
dramatic form, with each person taking a part in the
reading. A large cross is brought into the church, and
everyone will have an opportunity to come up to the
chancel steps and kiss the foot of the cross in what is
known as the “veneration of the cross.”
After this solemn service, we will gather in Faith
Hall for hot cross buns and conversation. We begin
to look forward to the resurrection.

 

Holy Saturday, April 8, 10:00 a.m.

On this morning, members of the Daughters of the
King will lead a brief Liturgy of the Word in the bare
church. We recognize that this is the Great Sabbath,
the day when Jesus rested in the tomb before his
glorious resurrection. We wait in hope because we
know that God’s love is stronger than death.

 

Easter Day, April 9

At 10:00, we will have our grand Easter celebration,
with the paschal candle, flowers, glorious hymns,
white vestments, the Gloria, and many an “Alleluia!”

All the services of Holy Week and Easter are part
of one liturgical event. For a full experience of this
holiest of weeks in the Church year, come not only
to the Palm Sunday and Easter Day services, but also
to Maundy Thursday and Good Friday so you will
experience the full power of immersion in the prayer
of the Church as we walk with Christ through his
glorious passion, death, and resurrection.
Father Joe