Holy Week is Coming
Soon!
This year
Holy Week is the first week of April, and Lutheran Church of the Savior will be
celebrating Palm Sunday / Sunday of the Passion and the Three Days, or the
Triduum, of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil of Easter on Saturday
evening. Each of these worship experiences is unique and features ancient
ritual in current expression.
·
Palm
Sunday / Sunday of the Passion (4/1/12) will begin with a procession of the congregation featuring new
Eco-Palms, fair-trade plants that benefit Lutheran World Relief, handed out by our Sunday School kids. We'll stay with the Palm longer than usual, allowing that celebration to shape our entire gathering until after Holy Communion, when we will turn to an interactive reading of the Passion of Our Lord. As if all that is not enough, this is also the Sunday we will welcome BenJammin and Analisa Gauthier to help lead music. Our plan is that they will join us one Sunday morning per month, enhancing our worship experience with instruments and interactivity.
·
Maundy
Thursday (4/5/12) will again include the ancient ritual of foot-washing, emphasizing
our humility before we partake in Holy Communion as Jesus and his disciples did
on the night in which he was betrayed. This year we will partner with Sunnyside UMC on this day. Sunnyside will host a noon Maundy Thursday gathering, while LCS hosts one at 7:00pm
·
Good
Friday (4/6/12) will offer a reflection on the death of God in Jesus Christ our Lord
on the cross, the symbol of suffering and death through which God paradoxically
showed most clearly the power of love for us and for this world. We gather at 7:00pm at LCS.
· The Vigil
of Easter (4/7/12, 8:00pm) is the ancient ritual center of our lives together as followers
of Jesus, the night in which God turned death to life, turned hatred and
suffering and pain into pure love, and turned us from flawed human sinners into
beloved children of God.
o
Join us around the new fire, the same fire in
which God led the Israelites from slavery to freedom.
o
Hear the Easter Proclamation and the ancient
stories of our faith, the stories of God’s grace and love from Creation through
the Hebrew Scriptures. We will bring these stories to life with creative and
lively re-tellings and vibrant musical responses.
o
Then gather around the font for a celebration of
Baptism, the sacrament of welcome into Christ’s risen body.
o
Continue with the first celebration of the
Resurrection of Our Lord, in Word from the New Testament and finally in the
meal that draws us into Christ’s presence and draws Christ’s presence into us,
Holy Communion.
o
Afterwards, gather for a festival celebration of
our risen Lord with good food and festive drink.
o
And as if the Vigil were not exciting enough,
this year we hope to welcome our sisters and brothers from Sunnyside United
Methodist Church to join us in this unique, ancient worship experience, sharing
their gifts for storytelling and music among others in making this our most
exciting and Christ-centered Vigil yet!
·
Easter
Sunday (4/8/12) again will feature a
celebratory breakfast and activities for children prior to our 10:00am festival
worship of Word and Sacrament on this holiest day of the Christian year. Celebrate Christ's resurrection in word and sacrament, prayer and song.
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