Our dear friends at St. Mark,
We wanted to write to you to let you know about our 2016 Lenten journey at St. Mark, “From Ashes to Easter.” This year we are going to do something a little different. We will experience each of our special Lenten observances, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil during our regular Sunday morning worship services. Worship each Sunday will include Holy Communion and will be at 8:30 and 11:00am as usual.
Sunday, February 14 will be “Ash Sunday.” This Sunday service will follow the typical “Ash Wednesday” liturgy with the imposition of ashes and Holy Communion. (We will not have services on Wednesday, Feb. 10. Our “Ash Wednesday” service will be on Sunday, Feb. 14 instead).
Sunday, February 21 will be “Lenten Sunday.” The Sunday service will follow a typical Sunday morning order of service, and will also draw upon the healing stories of Jesus and include an opportunity for prayers of healing.
Sunday, February 28 will be “Palm Sunday.” Worship on this Sunday will be a joyous celebration of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem—complete with palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna!”
Sunday, March 6 will be “Maundy Sunday.” Our Sunday services will explore Jesus’ command to love one another and remember Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. (This Sunday service takes the place of a Maundy Thursday service.)
Sunday, March 13 will be “Good Sunday.” This Sunday we will hear the story of Jesus’ passion. (Again, this Sunday service is our “Good Friday” service.)
Sunday, March 20 will be “Vigil Sunday.” On this day we will observe a simplified version of the great Easter Vigil service. Although this service is one of the least commonly celebrated, it is a beautiful celebration of Christ’s triumph.
Sunday, March 27 will be “Easter Sunday.” We celebrate the blessing of the resurrection!
On Wednesdays, February 17 and 24, and March 2, 9, 16, and 23, we will also have a Wednesday night Lenten soup supper at 5:45pm followed by worship in the sanctuary at 6:30pm. This fellowship and opportunity to gather for worship is important.
If you are still reading, you might be wondering, “Why are we doing this?!” We recognize that this puts us a bit out sync with the rest of the Christian world. The purpose of this special journey is multi-layered. Our typical worship attendance at the special mid-week Lent and Holy Week services is a small fraction of our Sunday morning worship attendance. We wish to enable more people to participate in the life changing events of Jesus’ life and in the dramatic worship experiences of the Lenten season. It is ministry outreach—to you and to those who walk through our doors on Sunday mornings.
We also view this as a teaching opportunity, to make more sense of why we do what we do, and for each of us to deepen our faith and our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. With a different approach this year, our hope and prayer is that this Lenten experience will help you experience the love of Christ in new and fresh ways. We pray that this journey “From Ashes to Easter” will be a journey that will bless not only those of you who are new to the church, but also those of you who have deep roots in the Christian faith. It is not our intention to use this format every year.
We have provided this experience in previous churches with an overwhelmingly positive response. When we first tried this, those who were initially very against this concept, came back to us after Easter with the testimony that this was one of the most meaningful Lenten/Easter experiences they have ever had. Several years later, the congregation asked to do it again. We have also had pastoral colleagues who were inspired by our stories to do the same thing at their churches. They have also used this format multiple times. The power of this witness compels us to want to share this with you. It is a good thing. We believe it is a “God thing.” The Church Council, the Music Staff and our Ministry Staff are all very supportive of this experience of Lent this year.
As your pastors, we love and care about you very much. You have called us to nurture (and challenge!) you as you continue to grow in faith. This is one way to give all of us a fresh experience of Lent and Holy Week—and more time to reflect on these important and life changing events of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our prayer as we journey through this Lenten experience is that you keep an open heart, an open mind, and an open spirit. Like most new experiences, let’s try it and see what you think once we journey to Easter!
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
God’s blessings,
Pastors Beth and Eric Utto-Galarneau