Holy Week begins on Sunday, April 9th, with the Palm/Passion Sunday service at 10:00 AM and the Choir Festival at 7:00 PM. It continues with the beautiful Maundy Thursday service on April 13th at 7:00 PM in our sanctuary and a Good Friday service on April 14th at Grace United Methodist Church at 7:00 PM. It concludes with two services and a breakfast on Easter morning, April 16. For more details and some Palm Sunday music and art,
We start the April 9th Palm/Passion Sunday morning service with the wild enthusiasm of the palm waving crowds singing “Hosannah!” as Jesus rides into Jerusalem. The children will distribute the palms to the congregation as we sing All Glory, Laud and Honor. Then after the children go downstairs we will continue with the Passion story and follow Christ all the way to his crucifixion. (We will read the Palm and Passion story from the gospel of Matthew this year, starting in the 21st Chapter.)
We will have the first of a two part reflection on themes of “love so amazing, so divine” on Palm/Passion Sunday, the second part of the reflection coming on Easter at the 10 AM service.
There will be beautiful choral and organ pieces for both Palm/Passion Sunday and Easter.
The 7:00 PM Palm Sunday Choir Festival will feature eight choirs and a duet. We will sing five passionate congregational hymns, which with that many fine singers in the sanctuary will be one of the great joys of the event. John Atwood will be playing pieces that will show off some of the powerful things this amazing organ can do, including “Prelude and Fugue in e minor” by Nicolaus Bruhns (you can listen to it below) and “Komm Heiliger Geist, Herr, Gott” BWV 651a by J. S. Bach.
The Maundy Thursday service will be on April 13th at 7:00 PM in our sanctuary. It will be a joint service with Grace United Methodist Church. For many, it is tied with Christmas Eve as the favorite service of the year. To read more about it, click here.
We will be participating in a Good Friday service at the Grace United Methodist Church at 7:00 PM on the 14th.
We will return to a former tradition with the Button family hosting our Easter Sunrise service up at 219 Summer Street on the 16th at 6:00 AM, which will be followed at 7:30 AM by a breakfast in the Grace United Methodist Church. Our main Easter service will be at 10:00 AM in our sanctuary with traditional joyous hymns and a spirit of pure celebration. We will sing Alleluia! The Strife Is O’er, Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain and Christ the Lord Is Risen Today. We will have a special refreshments time, to which you are invited to bring some of your favorite Easter treats to share!
Below is a recording of the magnificent Bruhns piece that will be on the Palm Sunday Choir Festival program, and below that is an original Palm Sunday work of lego art done by Caleb Peters.
