Holy Week
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Seasonal services

ELPC offers special services and events during the Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter seasons to help celebrate the wonder and awe of these holy days.

Christmas

Check back in November or December 2010 for our complete schedule of 2010 Christmas programming. Our December 2009 Reaching Out newsletter has complete information on specific Christmas events and services including the children's Christmas pageant, Advent crafts and Santa shop, Advent programs, Christmas concerts, carol sings, and more. Special Christmas and New Year’s services are listed below:

Blue Christmas service

If the holiday season is a time where losses and grief dominate over joys and laughter, find solace in in a loving God at this special service. The “Blue Christmas” service is a time of prayer and remembrance—lifting our sense of loss and sadness to the God who came near to us at Christmas in the Christ Child of Bethlehem. It’s also a time to remember God’s promise to be with us always, beyond the horizon of this life with its seasons of happiness and sadness.

Christmas Eve worship services

Join us for a Family Service at 5:00 pm, in the Sanctuary—a time of Christmas carols and a re-telling of the Nativity story, so that it can enliven the hearts of the youngest and oldest listeners.

We will also offer a Candlelight Communion Service 11:00 pm, in the Sanctuary. Join us for a service filled with beauty, grace, and celebration as we remember the birth of Christ and welcome the dawn of Christmas morning through carols, readings, and the shared sacrament of communion. Special music begins at 10:45 pm.

New Year’s Eve worship services

Welcome in the New Year with songs, meditations, prayer, and faithful hope! Worshipers are invited to gather in the Sanctuary Chancel for a special service to give thanks for the benefits of the year past and seek grace for the year to come. Communion will be shared, as will thoughts and reflections on this annual time of transition. Join us as we recall the faithfulness of God who is with us all the seasons of our life.

Easter and Holy Week

Holy Week—a time of contemplation, deep sorrow, and great joy. It’s at the heart of the Christian experience. Check back in February or March 2011 for our complete Holy Week and Easter schedule. Below is our information from 2010 for your reference.

Holy Week Services: Join us for special services and worship opportunities during Holy Week; Easter Services below.
Holy Week Services
  • March 28, Palm Sunday worship service, 11:00 am.
    Communion service beginning with a palm-waving procession and concluding with the Passion narrative. In the Sanctuary.
  • March 31:
    • Labyrinth open, 10:00 am - 9:00 pm.
    • Taizé service, 7:00 pm.
      Service of candlelight, prayers and music. In the Chapel.
  • April 1, Maundy Thursday:
    • Maundy Thursday service, 7:00 pm.
      Communion service recalling Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples before going to the Garden of Gethsemane and enduring his arrest and trial. In the Sanctuary.
    • Labyrinth open, 10:00 am to 9:00 pm (except during worship service).
  • April 2, Good Friday
    • Good Friday service, 12:00 noon.
      Service remembering the final hours of Jesus’ life and his crucifixion on the cross. In the Chapel.
    • Labyrinth open, 10:00 am to 9:00 pm (except during worship service).
    • Good Friday Service, 12:00 - 3:00 pm, St. James AME Church. Ecumenical worship service shaped around the Seven Last Words of Christ. Rev. Bush will be preaching on one of the seven words.
    • Good Friday Tenebrae Service of Light and Darkness, 7:00 pm. A service recalling the trial, crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. In the Sanctuary.
  • April 3, Saturday Easter
    • Saturday Easter Vigil, 7:00 pm
      Service commemorating the time when Jesus passed from death to life. Reaffirmation of baptismal vows are shared as the congregation awaits the good news of Easter Morning. In the Chapel.
    • Labyrinth open, 10:00 am to 9:00 pm (except during worship service).

Easter Services: Join us for special Easter Sunday services and fellowship on Sunday, April 4:
Easter Sunday
  • Early Worship, 8:00 am
    Combines Good Samaritan and Journey services; the Rev. Schoenewolf preaching. In the Chapel.
  • Labyrinth open, 8:00 am to 1:00 pm (except during worship services).
  • Early fellowship, 9:00 - 10:30
    In room 234.
  • Sanctuary Worship, 11:00 am.
    Celebration service, Communion Service, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ; the Rev. Bush preaching. In the Sanctuary.
  • Fellowship, 12:00 - 1:00
    In room 234.