April 2, 2010
by Reverend Tom Lenhart
From Palm Sunday to Easter – that time Christians call Holy Week – is the most holy and yet perhaps the most challenging week in the church year. Following along with the story and feeling the rhythm of this week is truly an emotional roller coaster. Through the Holy Week services at the First Congregational Church we reflect on all its ups and downs, in many ways like those in our own lives.
We start on March 28, at our 10 a.m. Palm Sunday service joyfully waving palms as Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem. We descend quickly to the betrayal of Jesus, his arrest, Peter’s denial, the show trial and Jesus’ death on the Cross. During Palm Sunday worship this year, we’ll tell the story of Holy Week in a dramatic “reader’s theater” presentation.
On Maundy Thursday at 8:00 p.m. you are invited to come for a simple “last supper” followed by a Tenebrae service in which the sanctuary moves from light to dark as we hear the words of the betrayal, arrest and crucifixion.
On Good Friday we open our sanctuary from noon to 2:00 p.m. for meditation. And that evening we join with the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer for a joint Good Friday service at 8:00 p.m. in their sanctuary located at 120 King Street, Chappaqua.
On Easter morning at sunrise (6:30 a.m.) and later at 10:00 a.m., come for services that celebrate the “good news” of the resurrection. We invite you to experience these events in community with others and discover how they come alive. The impact of the roller coaster, which reflects life, will become real. The depth of the fall from Palm Sunday to Good Friday will be palpable. And finally the joy of Easter will make all things newer and brighter. Come and share the week with us as we hang on for dear life!
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