Lent & Holy Week | Feb 26
What a wonderful night to be together for Ash Wednesday! We enjoyed seeing several who haven’t been back in the building since we left last March. We also had the joyful noise of fifteen children in the sanctuary and it added to the blessing of being together. One of our families commented that the new sound system made a real difference. Mark Eldridge continues to make adjustments and improve your experience each week. Hannah commented everything that could go wrong technically on Ash Wednesday- did! But we are so thankful for the faithfulness of our team in the balcony who keep us connected. Thank you for your grace and patience as we recovered from unexpected obstacles.
Now that Lent is officially launched, we are looking forward to Holy Week. Laura and Linda have planned a very special Easter Egg hunt planned for our Faith Kids on March 27th! Put this date on your calendar and contact them if you would like to help.
Our Maundy Thursday tradition is to remember the last supper through a dramatic expression. We have asked Pam Hoagland to lead us in this area once again. This year, we will film the drama ahead of time. To limit the exposure, we’ll film each scene separately. On Maundy Thursday, we’ll offer this special story on our livestream.
Right now, it is time to recruit those who will play the parts. We need 11 adults to be disciples and a handful of children too. I hope you can help bring this vision to life. Please contact Pam if you are able to help. Email: prhoag@yahoo.com Text: 918-808-8224 (If you already have a beard, that’s a bonus! But, not a requirement.)
In addition to the drama, we are planning a special Good Friday observance. We invite you to stop by the church (yourself or with your family) from 6 am until 6 pm. We’ll have the big cross out and invite you to nail your sins then spend some time in this sacred space for prayer. At 7 pm, we’ll livestream the raising of the cross in the sanctuary so we can all safely share in this special tradition. We want to keep everyone safe, and yet provide a way for us to share in the meaningful practice of nailing our sins to the cross.
On Easter Sunday morning, we’ll have two services -- outside and inside. At 10:00 am, we’ll gather at Turkey Mountain recreational area for a contemporary worship service. At 11:00 am, we’ll gather in the sanctuary for a traditional worship service. We will need to observe our 100 person maximum since that service will be inside, so we’ll be using our online reservation system again. It will be a glorious celebration of hope.
Thank you, Faith, for doing what it takes for us to stay connected with each other during this very difficult season of distance. I know we all hope that vaccinations and the decline in new infections will make it safe for us to engage in activities together again. On Sunday, our Ad Council will begin the discussions about what our next expression of church can include. We anticipate some directional guidance and then a month of research to make sure we can make it happen with excellence. We are committing as your elected leadership to avail ourselves of the best information to inform these decisions. If you’d like to take a look at the repository we are building for these resources, just click this link. Happy reading, watching, and listening.
See you Sunday for our second week of Lent,
Pastor Charla
