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Holy Week Special Edition
April 1, 2015


Holy Week at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church

Greetings!

Have you tasted the bread of life?
Have you been gathered in beloved community?
Have you known the dark night of the soul?
Have you ever been lost?
Have you ever been found?
Have you been set ablaze by the Light of Christ?

If you have answered yes, then you have discovered the Paschal Mystery. Christ's death and resurrection, what we call the Paschal
Mystery, is the heart of Christianity, and it is the life-saving center of our own lives and stories. It is indeed a mystery how the love of
Christ, made known to us on the cross, and the transforming power of God, revealed in the resurrection, saves us, but we know that they do. Christ's Paschal Mystery finds us in the darkness of our human life, gathers us in beloved community, and makes us, once again, a new creation.

This Holy Week, come and experience the life-saving mysteries of Christ's death and resurrection anew. The services of Holy Week are the most meaningful and life-changing services of the year
for many. During Holy Week, we not only remember Christ's saving acts for us, but we enter into the Paschal Mystery. We participate in the very acts of Christ's passion, so that on Easter we can become God's Resurrection people, agents of God's transforming love to this broken world.
Maundy Thursday,  April 2, 5:30pm Supper in the Parish Hall, 7pm Service
Gather in beloved community to break bread and share Christ's servant ministry. Here we gather, as Jesus did with his disciples on the night of the last supper, to carry out the commandment Jesus gave his disciples then: "love one another as I have loved you." We do this by washing one another's feet as servants to one another and by sharing a simple yet sacred meal of bread and
wine as friends. Water. Grain. Grapes. Love. This is the stuff of salvation.

Mediterranean Potluck at 5:30pm
Come share a mediterranean potluck and fellowship with friends as we remember the last supper Jesus shared with his disciples. Please sign up with The Rev. Vicki at [email protected] and bring your offering plated and ready to serve on Thursday. We will gather in the Parish Hall at 5:30 p.m. 

Keep Watch with Jesus; Overnight Vigil
On Maundy Thursday, the chapel will be transformed into the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus said, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me." After the Maundy Thursday service, you are invited to spend an hour in watch and prayerful meditation with Jesus Christ as we remember his last night before the cross, spent praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. This overnight vigil will conclude at the Good Friday service. Choose an hour between 8pm (Thursday evening) and Noon (Friday) to quietly reflect and meditate with Jesus. Coffee and tea will be provided, as well as meditative music and other spiritual resources. Multiple people are welcome to keep watch together. There is still a need for one or more individuals to keep watch between 7-8am and 10am-Noon Friday. "Could you not stay awake with me one hour?" This is truly a humbling and powerful Christian experience.
Good Friday, April 3, Noon & 7pm Service

On Good Friday we commemorate and participate in Christ's suffering and death because we believe they have purpose-the salvation of the world. We believe that Christ's death has conquered death, in all of its forms, once and for all: that is why we call the Friday on which he died "good." When we have found ourselves on one of life's many crosses, Christ, who suffers with us, has sustained us. We meet Christ on the cross, and we know that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. In baptism, we die with Christ on the cross, promising to surrender ourselves to God for the sake of our salvation, and to enter into the suffering of others for the sake of their salvation. Come walk the way of the cross for salvation's sake. 

The Great Easter Vigil, April 4, Sunset 7:45pm Service on the patio

Fire. Light. Word. Water. Bread. Wine. These are the symbols that lead us from death to life with Christ in this ancient service, the most important service of the year. The service begins with the kindling of a new fire - the light of Christ breaking into the darkness of our world. And then we hear the story, our story, of salvation. We gather on the patio around the fire as we share our ancestral stories of how God has worked for our salvation since the beginning of time, and how we still participate in God's ongoing story of salvation. We will renew our baptismal covenant as we commit ourselves anew to be people of Christ's resurrection. And we will celebrate that resurrection in the first Eucharist of Easter. Dress warmly, and don't miss this principle liturgy of the year gathered around the simplicity of a campfire. 

Easter Sunday, April 5

Alleluia! Christ has Risen! Come celebrate the victory of Christ's resurrection. We will celebrate at our regular Sunday worship times: 8 a.m. Easter service of Holy Eucharist with Baptisms, and 10 a.m. full Choral Eucharist with Renewal of Baptismal Vows. 

 

Champagne reception with carrot cake after each service. Equally attractive non-alcoholic beverages served also. 

 

Remember Your Flowers on Easter Day to Decorate the Wooden Lawn Cross

On Easter morning, the wooden cross will be ready for your flower offerings. All are invited to place cut flowers of any kind on the cross following the Easter services.

 

Easter Brunch After 10am Service

Gather together in fellowship and celebration at an Easter brunch in the Parish House after the 10 a.m. service. Connie Lindberg will prepare a delicious entree. Email The Rev. Vicki at [email protected] to sign up with your side dish or beverage offering and RSVP. Please bring your dish plated and ready to serve.

 

Children's Egg Hunt

Following the 10 a.m. Easter service, All Saints Sunday School will host an Easter egg hunt for children. There will be two hunts - one for the itty bitties and one for older elementary aged children. Please plan to stay for this fun-filled tradition. Children meet Mrs. Roberts at the gate of the school yard after church.