Events will be updated & confirmed soon
Worship on this special day where we remember Jesus’ Triumphal Entrance into Jerusalem and wave palms and shout Hosanna! This is the start of Holy Week. Worship will start out with a Palm Sunday celebration and transition through Jesus’ death on the cross.
Passion Sunday came about because so many people would miss the services during Holy Week, and instead go from Palm Sunday Hosanna’s to Easter Alleluia’s and miss the part about Jesus dying. Jesus’ death is so hard to contemplate and yet without it, there would be no Easter.
Thursday March 28th. 2024: Maundy Thursday
This is the day we remember Jesus’ Last Supper and the command to be servant leaders. This is where the sacrament of Holy Communion comes from, “Do this in remembrance of me,” and where Jesus, as a leader, washes the disciples feet and commands us to likewise serve others.
Friday, March 29th, 2024: Good Friday
Join us for this service where we contemplate Jesus’s last moments on the cross. This traditional style service held in the sanctuary examines Jesus’s seven last words in depth, and allows us to respond both in prayer and in song. This service lasts about 40 minutes
This is the day we remember that Jesus died. Share this important time together of remembering how much Jesus loves us. Please join us for this special time. We will recall the events of Holy Week and Jesus death on the cross in child-friendly language as we prepare our hearts for Easter joy. The service will last about 30 minutes.
This service, with choir and bells, will be held in the main sanctuary, and we will hear the full passion account according to John.
The ancient ceremony of Tenebrae, or Service of Shadows, was a combination of Scripture lessons and extinguishing of candles symbolic of the flight of Jesus’ twelve disciples, the approach of the dark hate of Jesus’ enemies, and the darkness of the days of our Lord in the tomb. The extinguishing of the Paschal candle is symbolic of the “snuffing out” of Jesus’ life.
Note:
There is no closing benediction at the Passion Sunday, Maundy Thursday, or Good Friday services, reminding us of the unfinished nature of these events. The worship services of these days are completed with the word of Resurrection on Easter Sunday, as people around the world cry out, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”
Saturday, March 30th: Holy Saturday
On Holy Saturday evening, we start worship outside — gathered around a new fire in the parking lot. We bring light from the fire into the sanctuary in a procession, and hear stories of faith leaders that progress through the Bible and culminate in Jesus being risen from the dead (representing the wee early hours of Easter morning). There is a dramatic transformation of the worship space from darkness and despair to joyful light and praise, and an opportunity to remember and renew our baptismal promises! The Easter Vigil usually lasts around 90 minutes.