How far you’ve come. Ashes to go. Foreheads or hands? Ash Wednesday in a bag. Wilderness sand and rocks on a tray. Buried Alleluias. Virtually. Lenten family practices. We could try coloring. One Great Hour or Sharing. Maybe? Holy Week planning. Palms. Parades....
What Will We Tell the Children? It was a Good Friday service I will never forget. I was perhaps eight or nine years old, and since children in my church rarely joined the adults in the sanctuary for any part of worship, my going to worship on Good Friday was a very...
This week marks the half-way point through Lent. But is it really the half-way point? This week also marks the one-year anniversary of when many of our church buildings were closed and in-person gatherings stopped because of COVID-19. Early on, there were memes and...
UPDATED Just as we’ve completed the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany cycle, Lent is on the horizon. It’s an annual conundrum – waiting through Advent, celebrating the Christmas birth, sharing Epiphany stars and stories of the Magi – all the while anticipating Lent and the...
Who doesn’t like a good road trip movie? Some of my personal favorites include Dorothy skipping down the yellow brick road toward Oz, Olive travelling on a mini bus to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, and a chain gang’s odyssey through depression-era...
By Kathy L. Dawson As educators, we know that there are certain times in the liturgical year that are busier than others. The cycle of Lent to Holy Week to Easter to Pentecost tends to be one of those periods of intense activity and for good reason, as this is the...
By Tori Smit Easter is coming and churches are beginning to wonder how they might celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in a meaningful and wonder-filled way when we can’t come together, in one place, and shout out ‘Alleluia’ at the top of our lungs. How do we celebrate...
by British Hyrams Maundy Thursday is the first of three Holy Week rituals following Palm Sunday and culminating on Easter Sunday. Maundy means “commandment.” Maundy Thursday acknowledges the new commandment that Jesus gave his disciples at the feast of the Last...
People, followers of Jesus the Christ, Excited by his resurrection, Nurtured by his ministry on earth, Together they waited in Jerusalem. Every day wondering and praying, “Come, Advocate, Companion, Spirit of Truth.” On the fiftieth day, the rush of a mighty wind...
