My brothers and sisters in Christ,
My friends, Holy Week has officially started. It started last weekend with Palm/Passion Weekend. For your Pastor, it is probably one of the busiest weeks of the year. But it is not only busy for me, but it is busy for many people in the church. If I made a list of people who will make this week meaningful to all, I know I would skip some. Therefore, I would like you to keep track. Make sure you thank them for what they did.
It is one of those times of the year when it is all hands-on deck. Our custodial staff understand the importance of this week. We will have many people walking into our church, and for some, it may be for the very first time. They will be the ones who will be guarding the first impression. The Music and Worship Committee has been working on these services for a long time. They also know the importance of this week for those who participate. Usually, two members of the Altar Guild take care of the month of services. Not this week. Two members of the Altar Guild sat in on the Music Worship meetings to make sure they knew what was going on. And for this week, all members of Altar Guild are on call. Okay, I will point out two people specifically. Missy will be there for every service. You won’t see Eloide, but she makes everything run smoothly. Make sure you thank them also. You have heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. Very true. It also takes a whole lot of people to do Holy Week. They deserve your thanks.
Here is our Holy Week schedule:
April 2 – Maundy Thursday- 6:30 p.m.
April 3 – Good Friday – 6:30 p.m.
April 4 – Easter Vigil (Saturday) – 5:30 p.m.
April 5 – Easter – (Sunday) – 10:15 a.m.
If you come to one, I hope you are moved and feel the presence of God. But here is the thing: we consider it as one whole service. If you attend all of them, we hope that you will be moved and feel the presence of God, but also see how these 4-service come together as one. As your Pastor who will be there for all 4-services, I am constantly learning the importance of seeing these services as one.
Last Sunday, we performed our third Living Last Supper. This one was in our own backyard. We performed this at Zion UCC in Peru. Just a reminder that we will be performing the Living Last Supper at our church on Maundy Thursday. I think there are invitations located in the Narthex. It is always good to invite people to church, but this might be an easy one to do so.
Our Lenten Wednesday services concluded last week. A loud shout-out goes to Kelly McCurry and Paul Baker, who led us in the Holden Evening Prayer service. We had a great turnout for this service. The cool thing was that the numbers might have even increased for this service. If you missed last week, you also missed Don Anderson giving the message. Many of you are used to Paul, but this was Don’s first-time presenting God’s word. One would never have guessed that it was his first time. I look forward to hearing from him in the future.
In all the business, I forgot to mention the Intentional Acts worksheet. Some have already been turned in. Maybe others have forgotten. We will extend the period until the end of Tuesday. Just come in and hand it to Eloide or slide it under the door if it is locked.
Praying for a special Holy Week for all.
For every Good Friday, there will be an Easter.
Pastor Tom
815-223-1144
Readings for Holy Week
Maundy Thursday
Psalm 22
Good Friday
John 18:1 – 19:42
Easter Vigil
Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18; 8:6-18; 9”8-13 Genesis 22:1-18 Isaiah 55:1-11 Isaiah 61:1-4, 9-11
Romans 6:3-11
Easter
Acts 10:34-47 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 Colossians 3:1-4 Matthew 28:1-10