Our Lenten Theme, Everything (in) Between: Meeting God in the Midst of Extremes, couldn’t have been more appropriately timed both culturally and as a setup for Holy Week. There are forces moving in and around us that, if we are paying attention, are the source of a chronic sense of dis-ease for some and, for others, a combustible sense of dread.
It’s likely that the paradoxes of Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday on April 13, will feel very familiar to us this season as we journey from triumph to tragedy, community to isolation, shouts of victory to shouts of violence, life and hope to death and despair.
Palm Sunday, April 13 at 9:00 and 10:30 am. We will begin with a grand procession of palms, symbolic of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, but quickly come to realize that the journey will end dramatically different than it began. We will meet God in the midst of shouting and silence and all places in between.
Maundy Thursday, April 17 at 7:00 pm. We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper with Jesus by welcoming ILC kids to receive their first communion. The service will then move from that celebration to a quiet reflection, as the altar area is stripped, of the journey ahead for Jesus—betrayal, arrest, a public trial, and crucifixion. We will meet God in the midst of power and humility and all places in between.
Good Friday, April 18. There will be two opportunities to gather. At 11:00 am, the community can gather in Incarnation Hall for a journey through modified stations of the cross. The guided reflection will be geared toward families with younger children. But, all will be welcome. At 7:00 pm, we will gather in the main sanctuary to be led into the depth of Jesus’ sacrificial love for us and for the world. The stirring sounds of violin and cello will mix with the voices of our Senior Choir and congregation to draw us deeper into the depths of God’s love. We will meet God in the midst of our acceptance and resistance and all places in between.
Easter Sunday, April 20 — 8:00 / 9:30 / 11:00 am. The story doesn’t end in despair. It begins anew in abundant joy. The story doesn’t end in grief. It breaks out in vital hope. All services will be the same that Sunday.
Come. Enter the story together. Meet God in the midst of the extremes. And, as always, “Bring a Friend!”
Peace, Kai