from the pastor

April 6, 2003

I would rather be warming my hands on my coffee cup than typing on the computer this morning. It is a morning greeting me with temptations to be a grouch: losing an hour of sleep due to daylight savings time, and losing the feel of springtime--as winter makes one more successful assault. But as the old hymn goes: Yield Not to Temptation. And as another old hymn goes: Count Your Many Blessings. Birdsong, hot coffee, yellow daffodils, and the weekly opportunity to have my soul brushed with the songs, stories, and people of worship.

We are a week away from Holy Week and I want to be sure that everyone has accurate information about events.

Next Sunday (April 13) is Palm/Passion Sunday. Our worship services will be at the regular time: 8:15 and 10:30 a.m. Both services will be formal and will include processions and palms at the beginning of the services. The stories and songs that day will focus on both the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (the week before he was executed) and the story of this arrest and execution. The mood of the worship service will shift from triumphal to solemn.

On Wednesday (April 16), we will have our regular WellSpring worship service at 7:30 p.m. This will be a time for prayer for healing and renewal in our personal lives, our church, and our world. In a world at war, it is a particularly important time to gather and pray for healing and renewal.

Thursday of Holy Week (April 17) is known as Maundy Thursday. The word "Maundy" comes from Latin and means "command." It is the day when we remember that Jesus commanded us to both love one another (John 13) and to serve one another, symbolized by washing one another’s feet (also John 13). Our worship that night will be at 7 p.m. and will include communion--remembering the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples.

On Friday of Holy Week (April 18), Good Friday, we will have several opportunities to remember and reflect on the death of Jesus. There will be a brief service of music and meditation over the noon hour in our sanctuary (12:15 p.m.--12:45). At 7 p.m. that day, the United Methodist Churches of Champaign-Urbana will gather their combined adult choirs for a choral worship at New Horizon Church. And from 9 p.m.--midnight, our own sanctuary will be open for those who wish to come and pray or meditate.

On Saturday of Holy Week (April 19) we will have our Easter Eve or Easter Vigil worship. This begins outside with a campfire at 7 p.m., moves indoors in a procession behind the Christ Candle, includes story telling from the Bible, a renewal of our baptismal vows, communion, and concludes with a banquet in the fellowship hall. It is our most celebratory and elaborate worship service of the year.

Then on Easter Day, April 20, the times of worship will be 6:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Our sunrise service will begin outside at 6:30 a.m. and then move indoors. It will be followed by a breakfast in the fellowship hall--served by the youth. There is no cost for the breakfast, but they will welcome donations toward their mission trips and other projects. Our regular worship that day will be a combined service (of the early and late congregations) at 9 a.m.

Holy week is a significant part of our faith journey--a time for seeing, hearing, and experiencing God in new ways. Please join us. --Mike

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