Christ’s peace be with you,
We are nearing the end of the Lenten journey and approaching Holy Week in anticipation of the hope on the other side of death and lament. As we discovered last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Lenten journey is all the more necessary to attend to and participate in as a people who long for healing and redemption. Our collective trauma and loss over this past year point us back to the cross, a place where we, with Christ, must wrestle with the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
This year, we have several offerings which I hope you will participate in as steps along the road to the cross. These gatherings root us in the story of Christ, the journey to the heart of God’s love for humanity, and the story of restoration hope that we find in the garden on Easter morning.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Seth
Connect with these Lent and Holy Week offerings below
- Weekly Examen, tonight
- Palm Sunday service
- Maundy Thursday & Good Friday (w/ Cordata Pres. and First Pres.)
- Easter Sunday: flowers, service, and a scavenger hunt!
Examen — Wednesdays at 7 p.m.
Join us online for a short time of prayer and reflection upon the journey of our days. The Lenten Examen gathering meets on Zoom and Facebook and at http://www.saintjamespres.org/lent.
Palm Sunday
We begin the Holy Week journey by remembering Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the start of the Passover Feast. Registration for in-person worship on Sunday, April 28, is now open. Visit https://saintjamespres.churchcenter.com/registrations/events to sign up. As always, you can join us online for worship from home. Visit http://www.saintjamespres.org/live for this week’s service info.
Maundy Thursday & Good Friday services
Our yearly tradition of journeying through Lent with Cordata and First Presbyterian Churches concludes this week as we remember Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
- Maundy Thursday, April 1 at 7 p.m. — Service links Zoom and Website
- Good Friday Tenebrae, April 2 at 7 p.m. — Service link (Zoom)
Easter Sunday — Bring Flowers!
We celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday, April 4, at 10:30 a.m. The service will be streamed online as usual at http://www.saintjamespres.org/live. You can also register to join us in-person here.
This year, we invite you to bring flowers to help decorate the chancel of the church. While we won’t have our standard lilies, we would love to gather potted flowers you would like to contribute to our “sanctuary garden.” You can bring flowers by the church next week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Want to donate money for flowers instead? Just reply to this email and let us know.
We will be holding a socially-distanced Easter scavenger hunt after worship from 12 to 1 p.m. Visit Tracy at the church for instructions! Also, we are looking for donations of individually wrapped nut-free candy. Drop off donations in the Children and Family Ministries box outside the office before Friday, April 2.