Dear Members and Friends of St. Paul’s,
As you are reading this newsletter, you either find yourself in the midst of Holy Week or in the season of Easter. Either way, I hope that you are able to join us in worship at this important time of the church year. There are some new things happening in worship this year as well that you may notice:
Palm/Passion Sunday, March 29: Last year, we switched up our Palm Sunday worship to include the passion narrative as well. Now, instead of only celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we also hear the narrative of Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem in full. This story is central to our faith, and there is no other church occasion in which we hear the story in full from one of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). Setting the Palm Sunday Gospel next to the passion narrative not only gives us a chance to focus on the central stories of our faith, but also holds in tension our celebration of Christ as Messiah and the difficult reality of the counter-cultural life that he brings. This year, our worship will also include a brief sermon on the meaning of the passion.
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, April 2-4: Join us in worship during the holiest week in the Christian calendar to bear witness to Christ’s suffering and death, and hold vigil outside the tomb awaiting the joy of resurrection. We gather in word and sacrament, song and prayer, to become the body of Christ fed, washed, broken, redeemed, and resurrected. This year’s worship services will require the work of many volunteers, musicians, and leaders. Join us on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday at 7:00pm, and on Saturday for the Easter Vigil at 5:00pm.
Kid’s Holy Week Service, April 3: We have updated our service this year to be more kid-friendly. It will be more interactive, will have shorter stories, different songs, and will be shorter than recent years. This has been a great opportunity for the kids to engage in the Holy Week and Easter stories before participating in a fun-filled Easter egg hunt. We are also thankful that the older Sunday School 2.0 class will lead a presentation about the joy of Easter. The service is on Good Friday at 10:00am, immediately followed by the egg hunt.
Resurrection of Our Lord, Easter Sunday, April 5: This year in our Sunday worship, we hear the good news of the resurrection from the Gospel of Matthew. We hear of the earthquake caused by the angels rolling the stone away from the tomb. We celebrate Christ’s resurrection and the promise of eternal life that is borne from this day. Join us for special music and celebration as we gather in worship as the resurrected body of Christ. Please note our special worship schedule for Easter Sunday: the 9:00am service will have contemporary music played by our Same Spirit Band. The 11:00am service will have traditional music with a guest musician on the trumpet. There will be no Sunday evening worship service this week.
Easter Lessons and Carols, April 12: For the first time this year, on the Second Sunday of Easter, we will be celebrating the season with a festival of readings and hymns. Join us in worship to hear again the stories of Jesus’ resurrection, his appearances to the disciples, his ascension, and the spread of the good news to all the ends of the earth. Come and sing your favorite Easter hymns. We return to our weekly worship schedule with services on Sunday at 9:30am and 5:00pm. Both services will have traditional music.
The season of Easter continues for 50 days, until the celebration of Pentecost on May 24. Join us as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and the new life that we have received. Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
Peace,
Rev. Jessica Hahn