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Special Worship Services
Kirkin O' the Tartan – October 26, 2008 at 10:30am
Though it happens on Sunday morning, the Kirkin O’ the Tartan is quite special and quite unique. We celebrate Reformation Sunday and our Scottish heritage through the presentation of clan or family tartans and with a bagpipe band and drum corp. Worshippers are encouraged to wear their clan tartan whether it’s a skirt, tie, scarf, or kilt.
Candlelight – December 7, 2008
The Candlelight service at First Presbyterian Church is a community tradition. It most often takes the form a Lessons and Carols service with special Christmas music that will help us prepare for the coming of the Christ child.
Longest Night Service – December 21, 2008
Christmas is a joyful, magical time for many. However, many others because of grief find it very difficult to feel joy. Our Longest Night service offers an opportunity for us to be honest about our grief and pain, while also remembering the power of Christ’s coming into the world. This service, and all others, is open to the community.
Christmas Eve – December 24, 2008
The early service is a casual, family-oriented service in which our children and youth are encouraged to actively participate. There is an abundance of Christmas music and the Christmas story from Luke will be read so we all can remember the reason for celebrating this special day we call Christmas.
The late service is filled with seasonal hymnody and choral music. The Scripture readings and message remind us of Christ’s coming into the world to save humanity. A very special and treasured element of the service happens at the very end of the service as worshippers exist the sanctuary spill into the courtyard lighted candles in hand, singing Christmas carols until the clock strikes 12:00 midnight.
Lent and Holy Week Services
Ash Wednesday – February 25, 2009
Ash Wednesday begins the church’s 40-day journey through Lent. Lent is a Middle English word that means lengthen. This time of year the shorter days of winter give way to the longer and brighter days of spring. Lent is also a time of reflection and spiritual self-examination, and a time that we are urged to engage in something that is quite counter-cultural: remember the frailty and finite nature of our humanity.
Palm Sunday – April 5, 2009
Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and begins the most sacred week in the church year, Holy Week.
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday is the first of two evening services during Holy Week. “Maundy” comes from the Latin word mandatum, from which we get the English word “mandate.” When Jesus was with his disciples for their last meal, he gave them a new mandate or commandment to love one another as he loved them. We will celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and ask God to help us love others as he loves us.
Good Friday
Good Friday is the second evening service of Holy Week. It has been said that one cannot fully comprehend the good news of Easter without experiencing the pain of Christ’s betrayal and crucifixion on Good Friday. The service takes place in our sanctuary under very low light as a reminder of the darkness Jesus experienced during his final hours on earth.
We live in a culture of instant gratification. Lent and Holy Week, especially the Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday services, help us prepare our hearts and minds to hear those joyous Easter Sunday words, “He is risen! He is risen, indeed!”
During our worship service, ashes from last year’s Palm Sunday’s palm fronds will be imposed in the sign of the cross on worshipers' foreheads. During the imposition, the minister will say, “From ashes you came and to ashes you shall return."
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