Ash Wednesday Services will be held on February 14 at 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm. Both services will include the imposition of ashes and Holy Communion.
Lenten Wednesday Night Suppers – Feb 21, 28 and Mar 7, 14, 21
On these evenings we will have a light supper starting at 5:45 pm to enable handbell choir members to eat before their practice time at 6:15 pm. Meals can be rather simple but we need your help. There is a sign-up on the atrium bulletin board and we hope you will consider helping with at least one meal of the five. Join with others, a group, friends, committees, to come up with a simple meal. We will also need the Trinity Kitchen Group to help with clean up on these evenings.
Lent Midweek Worship – Feb 21, 28, Mar 7, 14, 21
During our Lenten journey together this year, we are planning on doing things a little different. Our overall theme for Lent is “God’s Story. Our Lives.” Each week when we gather for midweek Lenten worship at 7:00 PM, we will be examining the connection between the biblical narrative and the stories of our lives that come together in God’s story of enduring love. During worship, people will share their personal stories as they relate to a particular theme for the evening, and we will encounter the different ways the Bible speaks to that theme. Our five weekly themes as we journey through Lent together are “Burned” on February 21, “Broken” on February 28, “Stained” on March 7, “Washed” on March 14, and “Promised” on March 21. We invite you to journey with us through scripture and story as we prepare for Holy Week and Easter. As with previous years, we will also hold a brief service of communion that will include a rite of healing and anointing at noon each Wednesday.
A Lenten Journey: Biblical Stations of the Cross
12 Noon on Fridays – Feb 16, 23; March 2, 9, 16, and 23
Lent is a reflective time that is guided by our lectionary, liturgy, and hymns in our worship. In our personal devotions there are many options and journeying the way of the cross is a tradition that has its earliest forms observed and recorded in the late 4th century. Please join Pastor Lorrel Strom-Jensen on Fridays during Lent at noon in the sanctuary to journey through the Biblical Stations of the Cross. Through scripture, hymns, and prayers we will follow the way of the cross and ponder the connections to this path that we experience daily in our own lives.
April is here and with it we celebrate the victory over death that we share with Christ. Our Lenten journey comes to an end as we remember Christ’s last Three Days. I want to share with you my reflection on the Three Days and especially the meaning behind the Great Vigil of Easter. May God bless us in our journey to Easter.
Pastor Scott
“Every Sunday in worship the church celebrates the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit gathers us to receive again the gifts of God that come to us through Christ, the saving Word. On several key days at the center of the church year, however, worship takes a particular shape. These central days have come to be known as the Three Days recalling Jesus’ own words to his disciples that he would be handed over to death, and that ‘after three days he would rise again.’ The Three Days encompass the time from Maundy Thursday through the evening of Easter Day. In particular the church has celebrated with the services of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Saturday Evening.” (ELW)
The Church celebrates these three days with one continuous service. No benediction is given on Thursday or Friday. This year, we will produce one bulletin for the three days. The Great Vigil of Easter is important because it is an expression of our spiritual boundary crossing. Each of the four scenes of this service points to some facet of our passage from death to life with Christ.
Scene 1: The setting is the new fire, a symbol of Christ’s glorious resurrection from the dead. We quickly process to the sanctuary for the readings, led by the paschal candle. This action symbolizes Christ’s leading us from the darkness of sin to the light of forgiveness.
Scene 2: The readings remind us of our baptismal passage from death to life. The creation story prefigures our journey from the spiritual chaos of sin and death to eternal life in Christ. The flood story from Genesis 7-9 reminds us that we, like Noah, have been preserved from God’s condemnation, having been brought safely through the waters of baptism. Like Noah, we who have been saved are a new humanity. The exodus story suggests that we have been rescued from the slavery of sin and brought to the promised land of righteousness in Christ. Ezekiel’s prophecy of the valley of dry bones points to our reception of the life-giving Holy Spirit.
Scene 3: The focus shifts to the font, as we celebrate the central act of crossing the boundary from sin and death to new life with Christ in baptism. This celebration of baptism reminds us that in baptism we die and rise again with Christ and are cleansed from sin and “sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”
Scene 4: The focus is now on the Lord’s table. We remember how Christ, our Passover Lamb, was slaughtered to gain our freedom from sin and death. The risen Christ himself comes to be our food, filling us with faith, hope and love. In this act of remembrance we look toward our final transition from this world to the next, when we anticipate the day” when Christ will come again in beauty and power to share with us the great and promised feast.”
In addition to the Three Days celebrated at 7 pm each day, we will have noon services on:
▸ Wednesday – guided meditation on the Stations of the Cross
▸ Thursday – Maundy Thursday Holy Communion
▸ Friday – Stations of the Cross Liturgy
I hope you all will join in the celebration of the Three Days with Christ.
Pastor Scott
LENT...
Each Wednesday during Lent (February 25, March 4, 11, 18, and 25) we have the following opportunities to meditate, attend worship, or intentional prayer time as well as share in food and fellowship:
- 12:00 pm Quiet Communion
- 6:00 pm Lenten Suppers
- 7:00 pm Lenten Worship
What is Quiet Communion? It is a service with spoken confession, reflection on the readings, Apostles' Creed, and Holy Communion.
Evening Lenten Worship uses the worship setting "That You May Have Life" which includes Holy Communion from the worship setting "Unfailing Light", a liturgy for Lent created by Marty Haugen and Susan Briehl which we have used previously.
Lenten Suppers are open to all and usually are simple meals, served from 6:00-7:00 pm.
The Way of the Cross has always been a powerful part of the Christian Faith tradition. The early practice of Christians attempting to retrace and walk the path of Jesus has been a treasured way to commemorate the Passion and Death of Christ. The Stations presented in our sanctuary during Lent are original art by Nicholas Markell. It has been interpreted through the work of our Arts Committee and the work of Barbara Williams Ellertson. You are encouraged to find the time to come and meditate on the imagery and the Biblical texts. A booklet entitled Biblical Way of the Cross by David Haas is available to guide your meditation. These may be found on the usher table in the foyer. Please use the booklets for meditation and leave for the next person to use.
Hope College Chapel Choir will be at St. Paul's on Sunday, March 15 with a concert at 5:00 pm. Hope College is located in Holland, Michigan, and it has a strong choir program dating to 1938. Its 40 auditioned choristers tour extensively in the United States and Canada and have traveled abroad on seven occasions. The choir performs in the annual Hope College Christmas Vespers program, which is broadcast throughout the US on PBS Television and National Public Radio. The program is open to the public and we invite you to our beautiful sanctuary.
"Miserere" -- Another opportunity to enjoy music at St. Paul's will come on Friday, March 27 when we feature El Fuego Early Music Ensemble. There will be a 7 pm pre-concert lecture in Trinity Hall followed by an 8 pm concert in the sanctuary. This Lenten theme concert, titled "Miserere," features sacred cantatas of the Spanish Baroque by Jose de Nebra (1692-1768) and Juan Manuel de la Puente (1692-1753). The leader of the El Fuego ensemble, Salome Sandoval, is a Venezuelan native who established the group in Boston and moved to Durham in 2014. Members of the new, Durham-based El Fuego Early Music Ensemble include Allison Willet and Matvey Lapin, baroque violins, and Jacqueline Nappi, organ and harpsichord.
Have Books? During March, the preschool is collecting new and gently used children's books for Book Harvest, a local non-profit that gives books to children in need. Since 2011, they have given over 160,000 donated books to low-income children. Books open a world of discovery and learning for children. Donations bins are upstairs and downstairs.
Interested in Membership at St. Paul's? Pastor Scott Anderson will meet with all who are interested and those who have questions -- Sunday, March 15 at 9:45 in the conference room.
CROP Hunger Walk takes place on Sunday, March 22, stepping off at 2:30 pm from the front of Duke Chapel. This is an 8K (4.8 miles) walk. Register now to walk or donate to those who are walking. Stop by the table in the foyer any Sunday until then.
This Summer St. Paul's Musical Theater Summer Camp will make its debut! Dates are July 26 - August 1. We are looking for rising 7th-10th grade students to participate in our first musical production of "Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway". Join us for a week of acting, singing and dancing that's sure to be memorable and fun filled! Know a teenager that enjoys performing? Then send them our way!!!
Contact Vicar Daniel Locke for registration and more information.
Lent continues at St. Paul's...
Wednesday Night Suppers and Mid-week Lent Worship continues on April 2 and 9 -- supper is in Trinity Hall at 6:00 pm and worship in the sanctuary at 7:00 pm.
On April 2, our supper at 6:00 pm involves a pot-luck salad/dessert offering.
If you are able, please bring a salad or dessert to share at the meal. Main dish will be provided. The salad can be anything: garden, potato, pasta, slaw, fruit, Jell-O, etc. Dessert -- anything goes!
The last two Ecumenical Mid-Week Lent worship and Meals will take place:
April 2 at St. Stephen's Episcopal with Rev. Deborah Steed preaching
April 9 at Pilgrim UCC, Rev. Robert Kaynor, preaching
Worship is at 12:00 noon and lunch follows at 12:30 pm.
Stations of the Cross in the Sanctuary
During Lent and Holy Week, the fourteen Stations of the Cross are displayed in the sanctuary. You may use them for contemplation and meditation any time the church is open. On your way into the sanctuary, pick up a copy of Biblical Way of the Cross by Richard Haas. Begin at the station next to the Brombaugh organ and proceed towards the back and up the other side. Please return the booklet when you are finished. The Worship Committee and the Liturgical Arts Committee worked with Pastor Anderson to select and design these stations. Perhaps you recognize the artistic style as that of Nicholas Markell, illustrator of the ELW. Feel free to share your response with Jeff Anderson, Tina Bessias, or other members of the Worship and Arts Committees.
Adult Sunday School class continues with the Book of Faith Bible Study. Copies of the Bible Study schedule are available in the foyer and on our website (downloadable in PDF).
Looking ahead to Holy Week and Easter...
Palm/Passion Sunday is April 13
8:30 and 11:00 am worship - palm procession and Passion Story from Matthew
9:45 am Easter Egg coloring for children downstairs in Genesis Hall
Maundy Thursday is April 17
12:00 noon and 7:00 pm Worship with Holy Communion
Good Friday is April 18
12:00 noon and 7:00 pm Worship -- noon is "The Way of the Cross" and 7 pm is Tenebrae
Easter Sunday is April 20
8:30 am and 11:00 am Worship -- both celebrate Holy Communion
9:30 am Easter Breakfast in Trinity Hall (free-will offering accepted) all are invited!
10:15 am Easter Egg Hunt for children ages 2 through 5th grade -- bring a basket!
