Holy Week

We started out at the Sunrise Service at the Long’s House, bright and early at 6:30am. The sun was clearly visible down the river but did fully manifest itself until the Rev. Bobby Greene of Memorial Baptist was in the midst of his sermon. Catherine read twice, the opening prayer and the Apostles Creed and Nancy and Helmut provided the music for the opening hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” and “He Lives.”

By 11am we were basking in full sunlight with blue sky. Temperatures were in the 60’s. The Osprey were out building nests in the gentle breeze, certainly one of the memories of this week. 75+ people were in attendance augmented by some families – Longs and Dukes, especially. Bonnets were everywhere including Boyd’s. A great time to greet parishioners.|Easter is a time of celebration and that included music with Marilyn providing music inside during the lighting of the Paschal fire, Mary Lawrence on trumpet echoing the hymns, Brad performing the intricate “Prelude and Fugue in F major” (Bach) and the choir adding “Up from the Grave” during communion

We had 30 people on an overcast day with still a chill in the air. There was a “Good Friday” type of mood in the air – somewhat introspective thinking about what happened.|Certain images come to mind after tonight’s service. First the wonderful music. Marilyn played her best on” Domino”, an introspective but biting melody that could be easily remembered as Marilyn went through variations. A very moving rendition to say the least. The music swirled around the church|After the sermon was the veneration of the cross, the dramatic entrance of the cross. Then a chance for prayer and to put a taper in the sand in the front. By the end there were 18 candles and many prayers said.

We had 28 on a beautiful night with several visitors. While remaining cool, the clear conditions provided a wonderful backdrop for the service. Today we had the added benefit of watching osprey watch over a nest they are a making in an old sycamore tree in the front. This takes the old and brings new life, which is a theme of Easter.|Marilyn brought her new 60 string harp tonight for the first time and graced us with music in the prelude “Near the Cross and in the ending Keep Watch segment. Helmut and Nancy provided a vocal and violin duet in the offertory “O Loving Father.” Helmut also provided the mounful accompaniment to the foot washing in “Abendsegen (Evening Blessing).”

Tenebrae on April 16, 2014 was the opening of the Holy Week services. After several warmer than normal days, we had a refreshing (but cold!) rain on Monday day and Monday night that set the stage for a day with glorious sunshine and mild temperatures. We had 20 at Tenebrae which was a good turnout. This was an unusual service with its own Liturgy. 14 candles are lit and extinguished gradually throughout the service until one is left. “This service makes use of the power of light and sound to emphasize the darkness of death. The service ends on a note of hope. One candle remains, a solitary light in the darkness into which we depart.