Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ...

At the time of this mailing, we are already well on our way into the season of Lent. We have experienced Ash Wednesday and the First Sunday in Lent. As I mentioned at both Ash Wednesday services, Lent provides us a time to stop or slow down and “turn” – not spin aimlessly (out of control), but to turn, to truly be changed if we will seek and participate in transformation … to slough away those things that negatively control our lives, to release ourselves from the all-too-unimportant things that often consume us, to work to free ourselves, with God’s help, from those things that would and do separate us from communion with each other and the Other.

Below, you’ll find an excerpt from the current month’s edition of At the Table, the newsletter of the Cathedral Parish of St. Andrew in Jackson. Outlined are some of the core preparatory practices of the Lenten season along with some helpful insights. I commend this to your reading as we mark the days of the season, making pilgrimage, both corporately and individually, to the Cross and finding there both our redemption and salvation.

Please don’t forget that seasonal literature is always available in the tract rack of the parish narthex. For Lent, several meditation guides are available, as well as Lenten calendars for kids and young adults, meditation booklets for college students and an array of pamphlets and daily readings. And as always, don’t hesitate seeking me out, or another companion on the journey, for guidance and support along the way.

May God bless you in this holy season.

Faithfully,

The Season of Lent

LENT is all about preparing ourselves to receive the power of Jesus’ forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection.

In the invitation to keep a holy Lent (BCP, p. 265) the Prayer Book invites us to observe the following practices as the means by which we prepare ourselves in body, mind and spirit for the celebration of Easter:

Self-examination and Repentance

We look at our lives—at things done and left undone—in light of the 10 Commandments and the Baptismal Covenant. Where we have fallen short of the mark, we ask for God’s forgiveness. And we ask for God’s help to walk in newness of life. (The clergy are available to assist with this, should you feel the need for further guidance.)

Prayer

“Prayer is responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words” (BCP, p. 856). The 40 days of Lent provide a unique opportunity for us to more deliberately respond to God, both in corporate worship and in making time each day (even just five minutes) for personal prayer.

Fasting

Fasting is about abstaining from certain foods or behaviors to allow the body to regain its God-given orientation to health and wholeness. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the two fast days of the Church calendar year. On those days, we are invited to abstain wholly or partially from all or certain foods.

Self-denial

Self-denial is another form of fasting that can be practiced throughout Lent. The operative question here is: “What foods or behaviors do I overindulge, that stand in the way of my relationship with God, and that I need to cut back on or cut out completely?”

Reading and Meditating on God’s holy Word

God speaks to us in unique ways through the stories and teachings of the Bible. Follow the Daily Office lectionary, or pick one of the Gospels to read daily, and let the Holy Spirit shape your life more and more in the image and likeness of Christ.

These practices of preparation are time-tested ways by which we can cultivate a deeper and more fulfilling relationship with God. Experiment with these practices, and find what works for you.

“NO PURPLE THIS LENT?! WHAT ELSE IS CHANGING?!”

A Theology of Our Lenten Worship & Worship Space This Year

If you haven’t already noticed, some things in our corporate worship and worship space just might be a bit different in Lent to that which we’re accustomed during the rest of the year! Some seem new, maybe because this is your first Lent in the parish. Other things might be new, even for long-time members. Here are some insights into it all.

Traditional Lenten themes focus us on scaling back and simplifying in our lives—changing, or re-focusing on things that are truly important in our spiritual practices, our daily living and our relationship with God and others. With this in mind we’ll be trying on some new things in our liturgical practice this year.

Perhaps one of the most obvious changes will be our use of “Lenten Array” rather than purple for our altar frontal and other appointments in the services of the Church. “Lenten Array” generally consists of an unbleached linen and, in many cases, the addition of oxblood and black as a color scheme alternative to the “royal” purple with which we might be quite familiar. As its name suggests, there is an array of both materials and earthy/plain colors which it can include. Purple, of course, is an appropriate color for the Lenten season, but using something different this year will, perhaps, offer us an alternative experience. And, importantly to note, this actually isn’t something “new” at all.

So why are we trying “Lenten Array?” First, to this point there has been no distinction between our Advent and Lenten liturgical sets. They are, in fact, one and the same. The beautiful purple vestments and appointments which we have historically used during the two seasons are brilliantly adorned with gold, and the super-frontal, itself, is adorned with a gold cross and crown. These may in a sense be thought by some to be “too nice” for Lent. Gold is not typically a Lenten “color choice,” and, while the crown of thorns and purple robe (and in another gospel account the red robe) are “images of Lent,” they were used to mock Jesus’ kingship. Our focus liturgically on Jesus’ Lordship and reigning victoriously comes later in Lent on Good Friday when there is no adornment of the altar whatsoever. Christ reigns, first and foremost, from the cross, and his reign continues with the Resurrection. The gold adornments, while most appropriate for Advent, might offer a misinterpretation in the midst of our Lenten focus.

Second, “Lenten Array” finds its roots of usage in the Sarum rites of the English pre-Reformation churches. It is an historic choice during Lent, even though it is not considered to be a widely “ecumenical” choice by today’s standards. Actually, it is early “Roman,” and while Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, some Methodist churches and even others generally follow the standard white-red-violet-green schema in liturgical color choices today, using something historically English on this occasion can connect us to the ancient Church (even pre-“Anglican”) and the earliest of liturgical practices from the churches in Salisbury (Sarum—of Salisbury), perhaps, very important as we strive to understand more fully the importance of our ties to the larger Church.

Third, the Church is, in many areas, reclaiming the use of “Lenten Array” as a valid alternative for use in worship in the sense that: 1) it creates an obvious visual distinction between the seasons of Advent and Lent; and 2) it plays down even the liturgical “trappings” that can detract us from the significance of the season—our movement towards focus on the Passion of Christ. Using it, furnishings and costume seem to blend or even disappear. “Lenten Array” reflects the austerity of the season and makes things very plain and ordinary; which, arguably, makes just the more extraordinary the unfolding of the Passion story and the Resurrection and our celebrations of the Eucharist in the midst of it all. Our use of “Lenten Array” offers us, then, an opportunity for something both “old” and “new.”

Resurrection’s Lenten Array will not be as simple as unbleached linen, though the selection of material has some implications for us to consider. Its material includes a dark tan with oxblood and rose striping. Oxblood of course is a deep, passionate red, and “rose” is increasingly accepted as the color for use on the fourth Sunday in Lent (particularly in years when the gospel story recounts the Feeding Miracle). Perhaps the stripes themselves become windows into understanding more clearly the marks that “adorned” Jesus’ body following his beating and crucifixion.

Our frontal, which falls to the floor, covers the adornments on the front of the altar. Our beautifully restored altar will, thus, be covered for Lent. The frontal’s edges have been left rough so that it looks unfinished. Such is the story of Jesus’ Passion. Coordinating appointments include lectern and pulpit hangings, a chalice veil and a missal pillow will replace the usual stand. A priest’s stole for the celebrant to wear has been made. Even Fr. Brian will not be wearing the usual chasuble this season, so that everything within the worship space is “toned down” for Lent. Another versatile stole will soon complete the set, one that may be worn by priest or deacon.

Other Lenten Changes

Some other changes may be noticed as well. The Great Litany is said or sung on the first and fifth Sundays in Lent. On other Sundays, the Penitential Order will begin our Eucharistic celebrations. Different from years past, we will not use Rite I for the 10:30 a.m. service. Eucharistic Prayer A is more than adequate for use in Lent (and on other occasions), and our use of it this year will help us reflect upon penitential language/practice in general. Additionally, and as introduced briefly last year, we will sing the Prayers of the People at 10:30 a.m. services in Lent, allowing us to offer and experience prayer in a different way.

As usual, music will be softer and simplified, the organ “quieted down” some following the glorious recital by Drs. Lana Johns, Leanne Fazio and Susan Cook on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany. Flowers will not adorn the altar/reredos. The Lenten banner is displayed. Our adorned kneelers will be turned over in order to further simplify the worship space, and extra adornments in the nave are removed. We will be using a wooden altar cross as the focus of our attention/intentions this season, and we have secured a set of wooden altar candlesticks. The brass (except for the acolyte torches) will be removed from the altar area, and the beautifully adorned Book of Gospels, which we use throughout the remainder of the year, will be substituted with the plainer Gospel Book from the Canterbury Lodge. The pottery Eucharistic vessels we use remind us of the dust from which we, too, were formed and the dust to which we will return.

That the altar cross has been “replaced” this season is both functional and symbolic. The brass altar cross along with the brass missal stand will be re-plated during Lent, so that they “match” more closely the brass candlesticks which were re-plated in late summer. Symbolically, we will look upon (and on Good Friday we will adore) the wooden cross to which our Lord was affixed.

Please consider the above as a broadening of our understanding in and of this holy season. Through these changes—the simplification of our worship and worship space—perhaps we might better understand our worship experience and, thus, our “work with God.” These practices and “changes” invite our intentions to be directed more and more on the piety, prayer and disciplines of Lent and our simple walk with Christ.

NEW LENTEN APPOINTMENTS

Thanks to the good eye of Merry Barnes in selecting the material and for the wonderful handiwork of Ellen Newsom, we have a nice new set of Lenten appointments for use in the nave during the season. Ellen cut and/or stitched the new altar frontal, missal stand (pillow), pulpit and lectern hangings, chalice veil and stoles. For more information about these Lenten appointments and other seasonal liturgical notes, please look for the expanded teaching at left.

Our New Rector Is…..

I know everyone is anxiously awaiting an announcement--but we will do that in God's time. The Search Committee is actively involved in the interview process and working to find the person who is the best fit -- for us and for them. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to discern God's call.

Leigh Jensen Crawford
Chair, Search Committee

Sprucing Up for Easter

St. Joseph’s Guild will be holding a workday on Saturday, March 24, from 8:00 a.m. to noon. We will be sprucing up the grounds for Easter and will probably begin tackling some larger projects as well.

Lunch will be provided, and all are welcome. Bring work gloves, shovels, rakes, and loppers.

Please contact Clarissa Balbalian (cbalbali@ext.msstate.edu; 615-1291) if you have questions or if you would like to volunteer for a pet project.

Episca-Pool Volunteers Needed!

Speaking of volunteers…..James McCormick is retiring after 18 years of managing the church swimming pool. We are looking for a volunteer or a team of volunteers to manage the pool.

James is happy to pass along his years of pool wisdom and experience to a willing person or two. Tending to our old pool’s needs is not difficult, but it requires a little dedication and patience.

He is also willing to help muck out the pool and prepare it for use this spring. After that, the water level needs to be checked throughout the pool season on a daily basis, and the pool needs to be vacuumed a couple of times a week.

If no one volunteers then the pool will not be open this summer. Please don’t let this important feature of our community die from a lack of care.

For more information or to volunteer to be the new caretaker, please contact Clarissa Balbalian (cbalbali@ext.msstate.edu; 615-1291) or James McCormick (324-3863).

Clarissa Balbalian
Junior Warden

Servant Ministry: Spring Outreach

The Servant Ministry Committee expects to send our two campers from last year to Camp Bratton-Green this summer. Both boys are very excited about going to camp again, and fund raising plans to support this endeavor will be announced soon.

On March 19 Church Of the Resurrection is providing dinner to 25 students from Carlton College who will be in Starkville helping to build a house for Habitat for Humanity. Tom & Sue Bell (323-7504 )and Julia Heard (338-1855) are heading up this project. If you'd like to assist, please contact one of them.

The Servant Ministry Committee is currently exploring opportunities for partnership with the Life Renewal Community Church in social justice and worship projects in the Starkville area. Stay tuned for further details.

We will be providing Easter baskets for the families our church adopted at Christmas. If you would like to assist in delivering these baskets please contact Martha McAlpin at 323-7206.

The food items and personal hygiene items to be donated to the food pantry and Safe Haven for March will be macaroni and cheese and shampoo. Please bring donated items to the church during the month of March and put them in the basket in the narthex or drop them by the church office.

Dolton & Martha McAlpin
for the Servant Ministry Committee

Want to Help with a Habitat House or Dinner?

Habitat for Humanity starts their next house March 5; contact Peggy in the Habitat office at 324-7008 to volunteer.

Meal Appeal

Several slots still remain open during the semester on both the CANTERBURY and EYC meal sign-up sheets, located in the narthex. A shared meal provided by parishioners for these groups continues to play a “vittle” role in the ministries of the parish and the life of each of the programs. Please consider signing-up TODAY and joining us as we share a meal together. It’s a great way to get to know the young people of the parish and university community and vice-versa.

From the Vestry

The vestry of the Church of the Resurrection met at 7:00 PM on February 19, 2007. Senior Warden, Babs Deas, opened the meeting with prayer and welcomed Paul Martin while thanking him for filling in for clerk Rae Wilkinson. The minutes of the December meeting were approved, and the financial report was accepted.

New vestry members, Holly Potts and David Christiansen, were welcomed. Their areas of ministry include Festivals and Celebrations and Evangelism, respectively.

Since no retreat has been scheduled for this year, each member of the vestry reported on his/her area of ministry. Plans for the future were discussed as well as ways to involve members of the parish.

The Rev. Brian Ponder, Chaplain and assistant rector, reported on Canterbury. He told the vestry about the activities involving the students and the success with each project.

The meeting adjourned with the prayer for the search of a new rector.

Babs Deas
Senior Warden

Music Notes

African-American National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, is the hymn for which the hymnal Lift Every Voice and Sing is named. The Congregation resoundingly sang this hymn the first two Sundays in February in honor of Black History Month.

A Recital of Literature for Flute and Organ was played at the church on a Sunday afternoon in February. Thanks for parishioners Susan Cook, who beautifully read scriptures on which some of the music was based, to Dolton McAlpin, who was a Registrant Assistant at the organ, to Clarissa Balbalian and Martha McAlpin, who were Greeters, to John Beal, who cleaned inside the organ so that dirty contacts wouldn’t keep notes from sounding. And a huge thank you to Fr. Brian who was guide, consultant, and inspiration during the preparation of the recital, and who warmly greeted the audience that afternoon. The Adult Choir prepared the choir loft and the organ for the concert. Ah, teamwork!!

Adult Choir

Lent began with Ash Wednesday services, with music provided by the Choir, soloists Eleanor McClellan and Iwao Asakura.

Children’s Choir

This choir is working on learning music for various services. Included are Celtic songs for Easter Sunday. To help us with the meaning of the texts, they are doing research on the Celtic people.

A week before the flute and organ recital, the children studied one of the miracles of Christ which were the subject of some of the music for the recital. Dr. Johns came to choir; she and Leanne demonstrated how the music told the story.

Bell Ringing Ministry

In keeping with the contemplative nature of Lent, the bell ringers will be doing their best to ring slower during the Lenten season.

Organ Repairs

The Organ has a new on-off switch and will be getting a new amplifier in early March. This, as well as regular maintenance and a few new small parts, will cost the music budget a little over $2,000.

Leanne Fazio
Organist & Choirmaster

Easter Egg Hunt

There will be an Easter Egg Hunt on the lawns of the Church, Saturday morning, April 7 at 10:00 a.m., which will include a visit from the Easter Bunny, games and refreshments. Prizes will be given to the different age groups and for finding the “special” egg. Come one and all – share the fun! In the case of rain, the hunt will be held inside.

Note to parents: Please bring at least one dozen dyed or stuffed plastic eggs per child to the Student Center Kitchen by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 6. For more information, please contact Guy Hargrove.

Got Toys?

The Nursery is seeking to replenish its toy supply.  If you have any toys suitable for ages 0-4, in good condition, that you no longer need, we would be pleased to receive them.

CBG Summer Schedule Announced

Summer camping dates for 2007 have been announced for Camp Bratton-Green, located just north of Canton. Sessions for children and youth in grades 1-9, special sessions for those who are physically, mentally and emotionally challenged, and pioneer sessions for adventure-seekers offer a wide range of fun and excitement for the people of the Diocese—campers, youth staff and adult staff!

Regular Sessions

First Camp

* Please note that grades listed above indicate grades completed. Some limited scholarship assistance exists through the Rector’s & Chaplain’s Discretionary Funds.

Applications Accepted March 1!

Summer camp applications are accepted March 1 and thereafter. All Applications are available in the narthex or from the Gray Center Web site: www.graycenter.org.

Please don’t forget that each must be signed by a member of the clergy prior to being submitted. Sessions fill up quickly, so be sure to get your applications in the mail on March 1 or soon after.

Other Spring Diocesan Youth Dates

March 2-4 Happening #65, Trinity, Hattiesburg
Happening Reunion,
Ascension, Hattiesburg

March 23-25 Junior High DOY, CBG

For information about these or any diocesan youth events, including application forms, visit the “Episcoyouth” link at www.dioms.org.

CANTERBURY TELLS …

DINNER & a MOVIE & COMPLINE, TOO!

Join us for dinner, movie, discussion and worship on March 18 (note date change) at 6:30 p.m. in the Canterbury Lodge. We’ll make dinner as a community and share in fun and fellowship. It’ll be a great way to end Spring Break! This month’s movie: 40 Days and 40 Nights—a farcical spin on the disciplines of Lent.

PEWS, VIEWS & BREWS

PVB continues on March 22 (note date change) at 6:00 p.m. to continue discussion of Frederick Buechner’s Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who’s Who. Contact Brian for location information at 323-3483 or msu_canterbury@bellsouth.net.

BISHOP’S MISSION CORPS II

The Bishop’s Mission Corps is currently accepting applications for the second summer experience at Gray Center from June 4-July 14, 2007. Please visit www.bmc.dioms.org for more information about this wonderful Benedictine experience of prayer, service, work and living in community afforded our diocesan 20-somethings.

BIG SOUND, LIVING COLOR … MANY THANKS!

Many thanks are extended to Nancy and Guy Hargrove who recently donated a great television to the Canterbury Lodge for use by both the Canterbury Fellowship and the parish EYC. This has made a wonderful addition to the offerings of both programs and replaces for us the set that has been receiving much usage in the Student Center by the parish over the last couple of years.

Centering Prayer Workshop

The Rev. Dr. Tom Ward, workshop leader
Saturday, March 10
9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Chapel, St. Andrew’s Cathedral

Centering Prayer is a method of prayer which prepares us to receive the gift of God’s presence. It consists of responding to the Spirit of Christ by consenting to God’s presence and action within. Centering Prayer furthers the development of prayer by quieting our faculties to cooperate with the gift of God’s presence.

All are invited to come and learn about this approach to prayer. St. Andrew’s goal is to develop a Centering Prayer ministry at their church and to establish weekly support groups.

There is no obligation incurred by attendance at the workshop. For more information, contact the Cathedral at 601.354.1535.

Men’s Work Weekend — HELP!!

Camp Bratton-Green will be having another work weekend starting Friday night, March 9th. The plan is to work on the Craft Shack and to make it, as well as most of the rest of the camp, wheel chair accessible. There will be forming up a lot of ramps and maybe some painting. There will also be some fishing, eating, and having fun.

Please consider helping with this project. No experience is needed.

If you plan to attend, please contact Steve McDavid at 662-281-8300 or at smcdavid@mcdavidlaw.com.

There are other ways to help, too. Donations are needed to help cover the estimated costs of $4,000 for the ramps. You may mail donations to the attention of Bill Horne or Charley Belote at Gray Center; note ’Camp Work Weekend’ on the memo line of the check.

Help is also needed with food for the weekend, either in preparation or shopping or donations. If you can help in any way, please contact Steve as noted above.

Lenten Studies

The 2007 Lenten Studies have begun! For six Sundays, we will study and engage in centering and contemplative prayer.

We will watch and discuss videos by Thomas Keating (Contemplative Prayer and the Heart of Community), Joan Borysenko (Living Our Lives as a Spiritual Practice), and Tilden Edwards (Spiritual Leadership with a Contemplative Heart) and engage in contemplatively walking the labyrinth.

Please join us for the six Sundays of Lent, February 25—April 1, at 6 p.m. in the Student Center.

Parents’ Night Out Set for March 9

Our next Parents' Night Out will be Friday, March 9, 6:00-9:00 p.m.  Please contact the office by 2:00 p.m. Thursday, March 8, if you wish to use this service.

Please make use of this opportunity – either to take a few hours of ‘freedom’ or to enjoy the company of our youngest church members.

Susan Cook,
Coordinator

Guild of the Palm Cross Annual Meeting

The annual meeting of the Guild of the Palm Cross is in the Student Center on Saturday, March 31 at 10:00 a.m. Anyone can be a member of the Guild ~ simply come to the meeting that Saturday. Come help make palm crosses for Palm Sunday. There’s on the spot training AND it’s lots of fun! Ten people can make 200 crosses in less than an hour. Many hands make light work!

Be a Hero ~ Donate Blood

Our Spring Blood Drive is Sunday, March 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The UBS Bloodmobile will be in the parking lot of Merchant & Farmers Bank that day, and we must have seventeen (17!) donors to make our quota and have the parish family covered for another six months.

Watch for the sign up sheet in the narthex and reserve a time to donate. Having times reserved helps us stay on schedule, and it ensures that we meet UBS’s number of required donors.

If you donate blood at another United Blood Services’ drive before March 25, please ask them to credit Resurrection. Be sure to tell Ellen Newsom, too, so she can follow up.

For more information about whether you can donate or for other ways to help, please give Ellen a call at 323-9278.

Don’t forget ~ all donors receive a free t-shirt!

Ellen Newsom
Blood Drive Coordinator

Youth & Senior Sunday Set

Mark your calendars! Youth and Senior Sunday is scheduled for April 22. At the 10:30 service that day, we will acknowledge all high school and college graduates and our Christian Educators.

A festive reception will follow the service in celebration of our graduates!

Lenten Lunches: Soup & Bread

We continue our Lenten tradition of soup and bread lunches after Thursday’s noon Healing Eucharist.

The first lunch is Thursday, March 1. Watch for sign up sheets to volunteer to provide soup, bread, or soup and bread. For more information, please contact Jean Little at 323-7594.

Please plan to join us on Thursday for this special meal!

Thank you, Red Beans &Rice Crew!!

We had good food & great fun at our annual Shrove Tuesday Red Beans & Rice Dinner. Thank you, Sykes Zimmerman, Michael Fazio, Bill Batson, Holly Potts, and everyone else who helped!

Another Thank You

Dear Friends,

It was so thoughtful of you to remember me during my hospital stay. Your prayers and the lovely flowers meant so much. Your gift of the prayer shawl overwhelmed me. The shawl is so beautiful and was truly knitted with love, thoughts and prayers. It touched my heart. Thank you all and bless you.

Mary Frances Ponder

And Another Lunch ~

ECW’s Spring Meeting/ Salad Lunch is coming in April. Watch for details!

Other Coming Events and Important Dates

March

April

Please continue to pray for Search Committee members:

Leigh Jensen Crawford, Chairman, Mary Lee Beal, Rae Brandon, David Christiansen, Glen Cook, Babs Deas (Senior Warden, ex officio), Martha McAlpin, Dwayne Myers, Carey Price (Canterbury Representative, ex officio), and Beatrice Tatem.

We Congratulate:

We Share in Joy for New Births:

We Share in Sorrow for Those Who Have Died:

Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord; And let light perpetual shine upon them.

Your Prayers Are Asked for...

those with child, especially those with child, especially Whitney Hilton, Laura Vollor.... those who suffer in mind, body or spirit, especially Jeanne, Lorenzo, Edna, Don, Ophelia, Donald Mosley, Madeline, Bridget Burdan, Hunter Maye, Lisa Dickey, Chad Green, Marian, Richard Christiansen, Rhonda Bond, Murray Bullock, Jan Handy, Melinda Jones, Faye Jordan, Mollye Callahan, Gene Phillips, Hattie Shelley, Liam Livingston, Tonya Cruta, Rozella, Chip Barker, Jane Polk, Allen Sanford, Jane Loveless, Jean Core, Teresa Phillips, Noah David, Tommy McGilvray, Mary Frances Ponder, Cody Watson, Shane Gray, J. B. McKinney, Robert Wallace, J. B. Horton, Dorothy Anderson, Mary Lou Hansford, Marguerite McKell....those who serve in the military, especially Steve, David, Chris, Fran, Justin, John Burdan, Rob Kennington, David McCaffree....and those in harm’s way.

Time Changes on March 11 ~ Don’t Forget to Set Your Clocks Forward on Saturday Night!!

March Birthdays

* REVISED *
LENT, HOLY WEEK & EASTER DAY SCHEDULE 2007

LENT

Thursdays
Holy Eucharist w/Healing followed by Soup & Bread Lunches, 12:05 p.m. in the nave; Lunch follows in the Student Center
Note: No noonday Eucharist on Thursday, April 5—Maundy Thursday

Fridays
Stations of the Cross, 5:30 p.m. in the nave

Sundays
Confirmation / Inquirers’ Classes, 9:15 a.m. in the Student Center
Adult Formation Lenten Series, 6:00 p.m. in the Student Center

March 31
Guild of the Palm Cross Workshop, 10:00 a.m. in the Student Center

HOLY WEEK & EASTER

April 1
Palm Sunday – Sunday of the Passion, 8:00 & 10:30 a.m. in the Columbarium courtyard & nave, Proper Liturgy for Palm Sunday with Liturgy of the Palms & Procession

April 2 & 3
Evening Prayer – Monday & Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. in the nave

April 4
Holy Eucharist w/Healing, 5:30 p.m. in the nave

April 5
Maundy Thursday, 6:30 p.m. in the nave, Proper Liturgy with Holy Eucharist, Foot Washing & Stripping of the Altar

April 6
Good Friday, 12:05 p.m. in the nave, Proper Liturgy Stations of the Cross, 5:30 p.m. in the nave

April 7
Holy Saturday
Annual Easter Egg Hunt, 10:00 a.m. on the parish lawns; Holy Saturday Proper Liturgy, 11:15 a.m. in the nave; Acolyte/LEM practice for the Easter Vigil, 11:15 a.m. in the nave;
The Great Vigil of Easter, 7:30 p.m. in the Columbarium courtyard & nave – Lighting of the Paschal Fire, Recounting the Story of Salvation, Holy Baptism & the First Alleluias! of Easter, followed by the Breaking of the Lenten Fast with the Easter Reception

April 8
The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ – Easter Day
8:00 a.m. (said) & 10:30 a.m. (festival Eucharist with music) in the nave
Note: No Sunday School or Confirmation classes this day

April 9 & 10
Parish Office CLOSED for Easter Sabbath time

NOTE: There will be no home Eucharists this Lent, nor will there be an independent Lenten study offered by the clergy.

Though the interim necessitates us having a less vigorous schedule of Lenten offerings this year, we continue to have a wonderful number of opportunities for growth and renewal during the Lenten season!!

The Good Friday Offering

Every year on Good Friday, pilgrims from all over the world gather to walk along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. Some carry a cross, to understand better the nature of the burden that Jesus bore. Others accompany them, as witnesses, as penitents, as believers. By dying on the cross at Calvary, Jesus delivered us from sin and despair.

For 150 years the Anglican Church in Jerusalem has borne the responsibility of sharing the cross of Jesus in a special way. By helping to maintain the Christian witness in the Holy Land, by serving all of God's people there in a variety of ministries, by proclaiming the gospel and promoting justice, peace and love throughout the four dioceses in that region, the church serves us all.

Since 1922, Episcopalians here have supported the ministries of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East through the Good Friday Offering. It is vital that we continue to share in this burden, and not let our brothers and sisters in Jerusalem carry the cross alone.

Copyright © 2006 The Episcopal Church