Holy Week & Easter
Join us to remember and reflect on the last days of Jesus’ life and how the ways he endured suffering and death for the sake of justice-love give us hope for our own resurrection and the transformation of the world today.
God has been this way before.
God has been this way before.
Palm & Passion Sunday
Just No
3/29 @ 10am EDT LIVE! On-Site & Online via Zoom at
http://zoom.us/j/907548568
Have you ever wondered why, when Jesus was raised again to life, he didn’t take his revenge on those who betrayed, abandoned, tried, tortured, and executed him, like any popular action hero or politician? Because, even as the King of Kings, Jesus wasn’t that kind of king. The Jesus we see on Palm Sunday makes it crystal clear how different the power of love really is from the love of power. We will have palm fronds available for those who like to make palm crosses.
Just No
3/29 @ 10am EDT LIVE! On-Site & Online via Zoom at
http://zoom.us/j/907548568
Have you ever wondered why, when Jesus was raised again to life, he didn’t take his revenge on those who betrayed, abandoned, tried, tortured, and executed him, like any popular action hero or politician? Because, even as the King of Kings, Jesus wasn’t that kind of king. The Jesus we see on Palm Sunday makes it crystal clear how different the power of love really is from the love of power. We will have palm fronds available for those who like to make palm crosses.
Maundy Thursday
Poured Out
Thursday, 4/2 @ 7pm EDT LIVE! On-Site & Online via Zoom at
http://zoom.us/j/907548568
We follow Jesus through his last hour sas the prospect of arrest and execution by the state loom large. Still, he takes time to turn aside and share himself even more fully with those disciples he insists on calling friends, even though–and soon–so many would desert, deny, and betray him. He washes their feet and shares his last supper and gives them a new commandment: “Love one another, even as I have loved you”–as he pours out his life. And for that radical teaching, he is murdered. Worship will include special music from the Chancel Choir and both Holy Communion and a Service of Tenebrae or Shadows.
Poured Out
Thursday, 4/2 @ 7pm EDT LIVE! On-Site & Online via Zoom at
http://zoom.us/j/907548568
We follow Jesus through his last hour sas the prospect of arrest and execution by the state loom large. Still, he takes time to turn aside and share himself even more fully with those disciples he insists on calling friends, even though–and soon–so many would desert, deny, and betray him. He washes their feet and shares his last supper and gives them a new commandment: “Love one another, even as I have loved you”–as he pours out his life. And for that radical teaching, he is murdered. Worship will include special music from the Chancel Choir and both Holy Communion and a Service of Tenebrae or Shadows.
Good Friday
Ecumenical "Seven Last Words of Christ"
Worship Service
Friday, 4/3 @ 7pm EDT LIVE! ON-SITE ONLY at Christ Episcopal Church
1132 Highland Avenue, with parking at the library
We join with neighbors from Christ Episcopal Church, Cartner Memorial Methodist, First Parish in Needham, and others for this ecumenical observance of the “Seven Last Words of Christ” for Good Friday at Christ Episcopal on Highland Avenue across from the library.
Ecumenical "Seven Last Words of Christ"
Worship Service
Friday, 4/3 @ 7pm EDT LIVE! ON-SITE ONLY at Christ Episcopal Church
1132 Highland Avenue, with parking at the library
We join with neighbors from Christ Episcopal Church, Cartner Memorial Methodist, First Parish in Needham, and others for this ecumenical observance of the “Seven Last Words of Christ” for Good Friday at Christ Episcopal on Highland Avenue across from the library.
Easter Sunday
I’ve Got Good News *or Bad News, Depending
4/5 @ 10am, LIVE! on-site & online via Zoom at http://zoom.us/j/907548568
We’re taught that Jesus’ Easter resurrection is a good thing–that, in fact, it’s the very best thing: the death of death, the springtime of souls, the divine affirmation of Jesus’ Gospel ministry of justice, peace, and compassion. But is it good news for everyone? The guards who witnessed it firsthand were so frightened they “shook and became like dead men.” That doesn’t sound good. Or does it? What happens when the power of Easter goes to work in a world that isn’t just unprepared to receive it but actively opposed to it? (Matthew 28:1-10)
I’ve Got Good News *or Bad News, Depending
4/5 @ 10am, LIVE! on-site & online via Zoom at http://zoom.us/j/907548568
We’re taught that Jesus’ Easter resurrection is a good thing–that, in fact, it’s the very best thing: the death of death, the springtime of souls, the divine affirmation of Jesus’ Gospel ministry of justice, peace, and compassion. But is it good news for everyone? The guards who witnessed it firsthand were so frightened they “shook and became like dead men.” That doesn’t sound good. Or does it? What happens when the power of Easter goes to work in a world that isn’t just unprepared to receive it but actively opposed to it? (Matthew 28:1-10)
We need your help to
Bloom the Cross for Easter
A bare wooden cross stands at the center of our worship during this season of Lent. It will get even colder and harder during Holy Week as we accompany Jesus through the last hours of his life to his crucifixion on Good Friday and his burial in the tomb. But we believe death does not have the last word, and even the cross can be redeemed. As a sign of our hope in the resurrection, please bring flowers either from your lawn or the store, to decorate the cross and make it bloom on Easter Sunday, 4/5 @ 10am.
Bloom the Cross for Easter
A bare wooden cross stands at the center of our worship during this season of Lent. It will get even colder and harder during Holy Week as we accompany Jesus through the last hours of his life to his crucifixion on Good Friday and his burial in the tomb. But we believe death does not have the last word, and even the cross can be redeemed. As a sign of our hope in the resurrection, please bring flowers either from your lawn or the store, to decorate the cross and make it bloom on Easter Sunday, 4/5 @ 10am.
and since Easter isn’t just a day in the life of the church but a whole season, even a way of life, the celebration continues…
"Holy Humor" Sunday
Laughing in the Face of Death
4/12 @ 10am EDT LIVE! On-Site & Online via Zoom at
http://zoom.us/j/907548568
Something called “Holy Humor” Sunday sounds like a modern invention, but actually it’s a practice with deep roots in the church, particularly in the Eastern Churches. In those traditions, the sin-shattering, world-changing joy of Easter is extended to the Sunday after Easter Sunday with a celebration called “Bright Sunday” or “Holy Humor” Sunday. It’s a way of understanding Christ’s Easter resurrection as God’s own practical joke on the powers that be, when the world goes knock-knocking on the tomb door only to find that Jesus is not home but has risen to break the bonds of sin and death. It’s a reminder that joy and laughter really can bring down mighty empires.
Laughing in the Face of Death
4/12 @ 10am EDT LIVE! On-Site & Online via Zoom at
http://zoom.us/j/907548568
Something called “Holy Humor” Sunday sounds like a modern invention, but actually it’s a practice with deep roots in the church, particularly in the Eastern Churches. In those traditions, the sin-shattering, world-changing joy of Easter is extended to the Sunday after Easter Sunday with a celebration called “Bright Sunday” or “Holy Humor” Sunday. It’s a way of understanding Christ’s Easter resurrection as God’s own practical joke on the powers that be, when the world goes knock-knocking on the tomb door only to find that Jesus is not home but has risen to break the bonds of sin and death. It’s a reminder that joy and laughter really can bring down mighty empires.
To help us get into the spirit, WE NEED YOUR JOKES (AND WE NEED YOU TO TELL THEM)!!! Obviously, these need to be church-appropriate jokes, but that’s actually a wider target than you might at first imagine.. Think dad- (or mom- or uncle- or aunt-) jokes, the groanier the better. We especially encourage kids to bring us their best jokes! Please please please email [email protected] with your willingness to help. We can even supply you with jokes if “the flesh is willing but the (comic) spirit is weak. And just to top everything off–literally–we’ll have lots and lots and lots of these cascarones, traditional Mexican confetti eggs.