Lent & Holy Week 2016

Ash Wednesday, March 1, 2017 . Services at
12:15pm, 6:00pm

Holy Week
Palm Sunday, April 9
     8:30 chapel
     10:45 nave

Tenebrae, April 12

Maundy Thursday, April 13

Vigil in the Chapel Garden, April 13-14

Good Friday, April 14
    Stations of the Cross  noon: beginning at 
    1st Friends Church, ending at St. Andrew's  
    Good Friday Service  7pm

Easter Sunday, April 16
     8:30 chapel
     10:45 nave


Header photo is "Somewhere in the Mojave Desert" by Motographer, under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 / Cropped, text added.

Lent is our journey toward Jerusalem with Jesus

Lent is the season that leads up to the most holy and sacred time of the Christian year. We walk with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem and the Cross. His Resurrection from death on the cross brings us eternal life.. Lent leads us through the desert to the cross, and from the cross to Easter. 

From ancient times, Christians have prepared for Easter with a season of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. These spiritual disciplines help us to turn away from self-indulgence and move  toward God and God's other children. Fasting  as a practice today includes all acts by which we give up some of our self-absorption; this can prepare us for prayer. Prayer as a practice today includes all our conversation with God, in silence or aloud. Almsgiving includes all works of mercy; Jesus is asking that we give freely of ourselves to God's other children..

Rising to the Challenge
Lent is like a spiritual workout session. We set goals for ourselves that help us to rise to the challenge of living as disciples of Christ. As we go about our work of almsgiving, fasting and prayer, we are sharing in Jesus Christ's mission of bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth.

Special Services of Lent and Holy Week
The season is marked with special services and liturgies, beginning with Ash Wednesday and concluding with on Easter morning. The liturgies are listed here. As Lent unfolds, click the link provided to learn more about the services.
  • Ash Wednesday.  We learn how and why God formed us, created us from dust and the breath of the Spirit. At the end of this service, we leave the church marked with the sign of the cross, ready to begin our holy season of Lent.
  • Palm Sunday -April 9, 2017. 8:30 and 10:45 am We retell the story of  Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and then turns towards the Crucifixion. Palm Sunday is the start of Holy Week.
  • Tenebrae -April 12, 2017. 7:30pm This service is on the Wednesday evening of Holy Week. This is also known as the Service of Shadows. Light is lowered bit by bit as one disciple after another abandons Jesus, until we are left in the dark, without Jesus, the Light of the world.
  • Maundy Thursday - April 13, 2017. 6:00 pm This evening begins with an Agape "brotherly love" meal, followed by voluntary footwashing, commemorating Jesus' Last Supper lesson to us about serving one another. This is followed by Eucharist (Holy Communion). The Stripping of the Altar recalls to us Jesus' humiliation as he was stripped of his clothing and his dignity before the cross.
  • Good Friday Vigil in the Garden with Jesus - begins Thursday at 9PM and continues until Friday at 9AM; followed by Morning Prayer at 9AM
  • Stations of the Cross - April 14, 2017 Noon City-Wide service. Begin at First Friends Church, ending at St. Andrew's; this is a one-hour walk through town, with 14 stops for prayer. The route is wheelchair accessible.
  • Good Friday - April 14, 2017. 9:00am Morning Prayer ends the Vigil. The Stations of the Cross service begins at noon at the First Friends Church and ends at St. Andrew's (see above).                                         At 7:00pm, the liturgy today commemorates Jesus' crucifixion, his courage to obey God even unto death. We mourn Jesus, who died this afternoon on the cross. We offer special prayers on behalf of the world; we leave the church in silence and in sorrow.
  • Easter Sunday - April 16. 8:30 in the Chapel; 10:45am in the Nave. Welcome Happy Morning! Easter praise and joy!; All our senses celebrate: light and music and fragrance proclaim that Jesus is Risen and brings us new and eternal life through his Resurrection. We will have Baptisms ,through which our new Christians are raised to new life in Christ. On this morning, Jesus, the Light and the Life, returns to the World.   Alleluia! Alleluia!