WE JOURNEY TOGETHER THROUGH LENT AND HOLY WEEK TO EASTER
LENT: A 40-DAY FAST
Lent is a 40-day journey from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday — the ultimate challenge Jesus posed to the world and the world’s response. It is thus a time for all of us to take a look into the depth of our souls and to find there a deeper embrace of sacred grace at the heart of life. This all sets the stage for the Easter story: resurrection to life beyond life. The 40 days of Lent include only six days a week, excluding Sundays, because it was originally practised as a fast. Sundays were excluded from the fast because it is the Lord’s Day. Today, there are different ways to observe Lent.
HOLY WEEK
The centre of the Christian faith is the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. Consequently, the celebrations of Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday and concluding with Easter Sunday are the central worship event of the Christian Year.
Of this week, the 72-hour period from Maundy Thursday evening through to Easter Sunday evening is the most significant. Known as the Triduum, these three days are not so much a period in which we celebrate a series of disconnected worship services; rather, the Maundy Thursday service, the Good Friday service, the Sunrise Service and the Easter Sunday service are joined together as one long worship time during which we go home for rest breaks. Together, the services of Holy Week are a journey with Jesus in his last week. As we come together in prayer and reflection from Maundy Thursday through to Easter Sunday, may these three days be a time of both reflection and renewal for us all.
PALM SUNDAY
March 24th, 10:00 AM
This service marks the beginning of Holy Week with the exuberant palm processional, recalling Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In contrast to the joyful opening mood, the service moves toward a more sombre ending, leading into the passion (suffering) mood of Holy Week. The journey to the cross and the empty tomb has begun.
GOOD FRIDAY CANTATA
March 29th, 11:00 AM
The central focus of this experience is the story of the crucifixion, itself. It is a time to experience the pain, sorrow and brokenness of life, in the context of the larger story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
EASTER SUNRISE (Heritage Park)
March 31st, 7:30 AM
We will gather together in the light of the sun newly risen to greet the new day in Heritage Park. As a faith community, we will celebrate the resurrection in the morning light and announce again the Easter story, the Good News that Jesus Christ has risen.
EASTER SUNDAY
March 31st, 10:00 AM
We gather to celebrate the highlight of our third day of the Triduum with an inter-generational (Whole Family) style of worship, with the children and youth remaining with the rest of the congregation throughout the service.
