"Lent @ NDBC"
 
     Wasn't it only yesterday that we lit  the candles on the Advent Wreath?  Surely it is not already time to get out the Passion Cross?   
     Though hard to believe, it is time.
     As we make our way through the valley of this prayerful season, here is a bird's eye view of the Lenten terrain and theme: The Art of Pilgrimage---A Lenten Journey.

     Resources.  Both on the NDBC website and in the Narthex are copies of Mike Gregg's brochure on the Stations of the Cross.  In addition, he will be providing daily meditations materials on the Internet and in print.   
     Wednesdays.  As is our tradition, a weekly meal will be at 6PM, followed by a service in the chapel at 6:45PM.  The first will bring us the imposition of ashes made from the palm branches of Palm Sunday 2009.  The topics will be:

Feb 17 -- Departure (Ash Wed.) -- James Lamkin/Karen Massey
Feb 24 --  Longing -- Tiffany Gibson Cox
Mar 3 -- Disciplines -- Zach Bay
Mar 10 -- Pitfalls/Travails -- Mike Gregg
Mar 17 -- Return -- Eric Cain
Mar 24 -- Seder Meal -- Dr. Nancy L. déClaissé-Walford

 

     Sundays.  As you are aware, the Sundays are not of Lent; they are in Lent and not counted as part of the 40 days.  However, the music and movement and message of the services will ponder our faith as a pilgrim people.  We will light one candle on the Passion Cross weekly. 
     Holy Week.  Palm Sunday will be a festive day as the worship leaders enter waving branches and singing.  Of course, the dark juxtaposition of Friday's cruciform shadow is never far away. 
     Maundy Thursday will include a 6:00 p.m. meal followed by a worship service including communion at the rail.  In it we will recall Christ's mandate, "Love one another as I have loved you."  The last part of the evening will be Tennebrae: A Service of Shadows.  Just as we lighted candles on Christmas Eve, we snuff them this night.
     Good Friday's noon until three service always surprises me at the depth of the sharing we hear from parishioners.  With meditations built around The Seven Last Words of Christ, with autobiography woven in.  I always leave as hollow as a tomb.   
     Holy Saturday.  We wait.  We do nothing.  We allow the hollowness to make space for a hallowed place.
     Easter Sunday!  Oh mercy!  Brass will play.  Guests will come.  The resurrection will be celebrated with the congregational singing of The Hallelujah Chorus.  (And yes, a non-liturgical Easter Egg Hunt will follow the service.)

     Lent will be quite a pilgrimage.  At NDBC it is a beautiful, but challenging, art form that speaks of the journey of faith.  Let us begin. 

Our chancel will be decorated with white lilies on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010.  Orders for the lilies will begin February 21 and end March 28! 

 

If you would like to purchase a plant, put your name, a check for $20 and your designated message (i.e., in memory of..., in honor of..., in thankfulness, to the glory of God, etc.) in an Easter Lily envelope located in the Narthex at the flower table. To place an order by phone, contact Carolyn Scott at 404-237-8621. Plants can be paid for in person or by mail.
 

  WHEN SEVERE WEATHER COMES

ON SUNDAY MORNING