Dear Friends,
This year it is the month of April in which the season of reflection and repentance that is Lent gives way to remembering the events of Holy Week and particularly Easter Sunday.
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday on April 13, marking the occasion when people prepared Jesus’s way into Jerusalem. Unlike other gospels that mention branches or even palms (hence the day’s name), Luke’s gospel mentions only people spreading their cloaks on the ground before Jesus. We won’t ask you to spread your coat out on the floor of the sanctuary or narthex, but everybody should be prepared to bear a palm in procession for that day’s worship.
Maundy Thursday, on April 17, will be marked with an “agape meal” and communion in Gehman Hall, starting at 6:00 p.m. The meal will be a true potluck; bring whatever you bring with no coordinating or assignments. The sacrament of communion taking place during the meal will be in the manner in which the sacrament was frequently observed in the early church as the faith was first beginning to spread. Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth describes in chapter 11 how the church there got it wrong, and incidentally provides the text that has come to be known as the “words of institution” of the sacrament.
Of course the Sunday after that, April 20, is Easter Sunday. Expect a lot of music for that day. All are, of course, welcome for all of these celebrations. While our church is not holding a service for Good Friday (and I keep meaning to ask how that came to be), you are encouraged to find a local church that is holding one and mark that holy day in worship.
Charles