Holy Week begins Sunday, April 10th, with our 10:00 AM Palm and Passion Sunday service, in person and on Zoom. We begin the service with the jubilant celebration of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and then we follow the story of that week as tension builds through the Last Supper and Garden of Gethsemane, and ending with his death on the cross.
It is one of the most moving services of the year and we sing beloved hymns, including “What Wondrous Love Is This,” and Isaac Watts’ “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and the J.S. Bach-harmonized Passion Chorale that he made famous, “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.”
The service is designed to prepare us for the glorious outburst of life and light on Easter morning, April 17th. It makes Easter much more meaningful and real if we have gone through the Passion first.
Here are the other special services or opportunities that week:
Good Friday Observations on April 15th The sanctuary will be available on Good Friday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM for meditation and reflection. We will have a bulletin with passages to read and other suggestions. We encourage you also to consider the wilderness walk hosted by Metanoia of Vermont. Mark and Lisa Kutolowski write: “Everywhere there is life in the natural world, there is death, and everywhere there is death, there is restoration and life coming out of death. The Wilderness Way of the Cross is a way of prayerfully engaging with the dying of creation, in solidarity with the suffering and death manifest in Jesus’ own death. We invite you to join us on Good Friday to walk the Wilderness Way of the Cross with us from 10am – 12pm at the Metanoia Homestead. Email info@metanoiavt.com to RSVP and for more details.”
The Easter Sunrise Service on April 17th will be at 6:00 AM in front of the doors of the Town House. We encourage you to drive to the top if walking up the steep rise is difficult for you. Sunrise services are relatively short, including scripture readings, a brief reflection and prayer, and a hymn or two. Being outside at dawn together gives the ritual its power—rain or shine!
The main 10:00 AM Easter Service on the 17th will be the first time we have been together to sing our favorite Easter hymns since 2019, and we hope the sanctuary will be ringing with joyful abandon!
Joey Hawkins and Danette Harris will teach the children what Palm Sunday and Easter mean during Spiritual Exploration those two weeks.
It is the last stage of the wilderness journey through Lent. Thank you for walking it together!
United Church of Strafford, Vermont 