2016 Holy Week Parish Letter

Dear City of Light Family,

Greetings in the name of Jesus our Savior! We are about to Holy Week together as a church family. While some of us have celebrated Holy Week this way before, for many of us it will be our first time celebrating these services.

Whatever your experience, I invite us altogether as the church to hallow this week—to set it apart as a holy time when we experience the presence of Jesus with us—because Jesus has already hallowed this week by his death and resurrection. These are not ordinary days, but days that have changed the world and our lives. 

The services and actions of Holy Week flow from one to another and are meant to be experienced together as a whole. You and your children do not want to miss any of the pieces of this journey, especially the ones you’ve never been to before. They are rooted in Scripture, practiced by the church across time and space, and full of the Spirit.

Here are some practices that may be new to you:

• Palm Sunday Procession (Lk 19:28-40, Rev. 7:9)—We as the crowd honor Jesus as Lord, but moments later, we as the crowd shout crucify him. Jesus rose in glory, but first he had to enter into suffering. 
• Maundy Thursday (John 13:1-17, 31b-35)— We participate in the institution of the Lord's Supper and we follow Jesus’ command to love one another as he washes his disciples' feet.
• Stations of the Cross (From all 4 Gospels)—We walk with Jesus through the biblical story of his death from his arrest to laying his body in the tomb.
• Good Friday Service (John 19:1-37)—We read the story of Jesus’ death, then lay the cross down on the ground so that we can touch it and pray at it. The act of touching the wood of the cross ministers the tangible reality of Jesus’ suffering and invites us to receive anew the forgiveness Jesus offers.
• Easter (Luke 24:1-10)—We announce that Jesus is risen (He is risen indeed!) and celebrate that our lives are forever changed. Everyone is encouraged to bring bells to ring for the Holy Noise.

We all have worries and urgencies in our everyday lives. For one week, let those recede into the background so that we can immerse ourselves in the most urgent reality, the deepest truth—the kingdom of God. Let’s enter into what the early Christians called kairos—a “time outside of time” where we get a taste eternity that leaves us forever hungry for heaven.

Let us hallow this week when we walk with our Lord to share in his death and in his resurrection.

Your Brother in Christ,

Fr. Trevor

For even more background on Holy Week, check out this Holy Week Guide from our sending church, Church of the Resurrection.