As we enter the last weeks of Lent, we are beginning to look forward to Holy Week, the final approach to Easter Sunday. In many ways, Holy Week is the high point of the church calendar, as we follow Jesus in “real time” during his final approach to the cross. In Holy Week, we come to the climax of God’s sacrificial love and plan to restore our lives — and the whole of creation. During these seven days, we gather to be taken up again in the drama and wonder, the grief and the glory of Jesus’ death and resurrection. For some of us, this week was the first taste of liturgical worship and the entryway into following the church calendar.

You can find information on Holy Week services below and on the church website’s events page. I wanted to especially highlight the Good Friday service which includes seven people reflecting on the words of Christ from the cross to share about their own experiences of God’s faithfulness in the midst of suffering. Every year that I’ve had the privilege of being at this service, it has been a high point for me, filling me with fresh wonder at God’s grace in suffering and a deeper sense of knowing those who share. I strongly encourage you to make every effort to be there, invite a friend, and please join me in praying for Lisa Van Allen, Sebastian Moran, and Bruce Silsby, all of whom will be sharing.

Finally, as Lent winds down I’m praying for us all to grow in our “follower-ship” after Jesus on the way of the cross, that we may more fully become people that the Holy Spirit can use.

In Christ,

Peter+