First Church Somerville UCC http://firstchurchsomerville.org Building the Beloved Community Thu, 17 May 2012 13:17:57 +0000 en hourly 1 Eternal Life. http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/05/eternal-life/ http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/05/eternal-life/#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 13:17:57 +0000 Molly http://firstchurchsomerville.org/?p=1780 Hey there Beloved! Isn’t it a totally gorgeous day today? Isn’t it impossible not to love everybody today? This is a day when it is easier to be a Christian. Thank God!
At Church Council last night we all put on minister’s stoles, aka “the mantle of Christ’s authority,” and talked about what felt heavy about being a Christian, and also, what more we wanted to take on of the work of Jesus. Two of our leaders said they wanted to have more fun, which I think Jesus would totally approve of. Can we show those leaders how it’s done? You are on your own for Friday and Saturday, but make sure you DO it. That’s an order. I mean a strong suggestion. I forgot I was UCC for a minute.
Saturday afternoon the church will be open if you want to drop off stuff you no longer have need of for the Church Swap. Clothes for men, women and children, toys, small household goods. Please leave big items and computers/tvs at home–but feel free to post to the list if you have anything big you want to divest yourself of!
Sunday we will worship God, starting at 8:50 am with bible study and choir practice (mm-hmm!), 10 am worship. Liz D is our able liturgist, I’ll be preaching on what exactly it might mean to both believe in Jesus and have eternal life (ahh!), Rev. Jeff will pray with us, and 10-year-old India will be baptized, amidst our joy and promises!
At coffee hour, there will be extra feasting in celebration of India’s welcome to the Way of Jesus. There will also be shopping at the Swap, in the Chapel and outside. Everything will be free–take it if you can use it. Rebecca H might appreciate an extra few pairs of hands to load up their van with leftovers when it’s over, so she can take them down to Goodwill.
Big Meeting Brunch follows: come eavesdrop and be part of the ministries that make First Church a wonderful spiritual home. Children’s Ministry, Fellowship (aka Party Team), Finance, Music and Mission & Justice all meet this month. Come make our Jesus-work stronger!
And at 2pm, we will walk all over Somerville with our faces in the sun, raising money to keep neighbors who have fallen on hard times in their homes! Listen up people:  after you hear my sermon, you are GOING to want to come walk with us in the Save Our Homes walk. It’s a beautiful day. It’s a good cause. You’ll be with kind, funny people. You’ll get work off some of the goodies you ate coffee hour. So save yourself some trouble and just email me or Melissa S now and tell us you are going to walk with us, and/or pledge to the First Church team.
xo!
Molly
]]> http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/05/eternal-life/feed/ 0 Science and Spirituality Sunday. http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/science-and-spirituality-sunday/ http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/science-and-spirituality-sunday/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:34:26 +0000 Molly http://firstchurchsomerville.org/?p=1772 Beloved,
We are fond of saying that in our church, you don’t have to check your brain at the door. And, as John O (Phd, MIT, other various initials) once said: “I like that I’m not asked to believe things that are clearly untrue.”
Never is this element of our community more in effect than on Science and Spirituality Sunday–which coincides with the Cambridge Science Festival, and (almost) with Earth Day.
Saturday: FCS road trip to NYC for Jeff’s ordination! 1 or 2 seats on the party van, leaving at 7:30am, home at midnight.
Sunday: John O will preach on–what else? Swift action on global climate change! His prayer petition each Sunday has been haunting and moving us for years. Now, hear just how dire the problem, and deceptively simple the solution, through the lens of the Psalms and the Gospel. Dan L, engineer (I don’t know the initials after his name but I’m sure they’re impressive), is our first-time liturgist! In his own words, the intersection of science and religion is very near to his heart. We’ll have a guitar orchestra, and great music, as usual.
REV. Jeff (!) and I will pray, read scripture, welcome. It is a Jubilee Sunday and so our young geologists, engineers, theoretical physicists and future MIT PhDs will be with us!
No sabbath yoga just this Sunday, but early bird bible study will happen before church, at 8:50am, as well as the pickup choir at 9am!
bless you all, and may you be a blessing–especially to the Earth which shelters and feeds us all.
Molly
]]> http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/science-and-spirituality-sunday/feed/ 0 Bread and Circuses, and the Holy Land. http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/bread-and-circuses-and-the-holy-land/ http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/bread-and-circuses-and-the-holy-land/#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:31:49 +0000 Molly http://firstchurchsomerville.org/?p=1769 Hello Beloved,
It’s never a dull moment in our beloved community. We’ve barely gotten the tulip petals picked up from Easter, and we’re on to the next learning and living!
Tonight, our old friends (who may be your next new friends) Jeff and Julie come back to town! Won’t you join them at Flatbread at 6:30pm, to find out about life in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gaza? The echoes of Jesus’s footfalls, the present-day struggles of Jews, Christians and Muslims for this tiny bit of territory? Also tonight, at 7pm: come to church to learn new wonderful music (see below) for Sunday’s worship.
Then Sunday, another day with many ways to refresh your spirit. Choir gathers to sing for spirit at 9am. Our worship at 10am will be dedicated to setting our capital campaign/building rebuilding effort aloft. The theme is: Defying Gravity. Rev. Diane has written an original song that the choir and children will invite us into–it is going to be a top 40 hit! You will not be able to stop singing it, that night as you do the dishes, in the shower the next morning!
I’ll be preaching on the ascension of Jesus into heaven after Easter–made like him, like him we rise. Jeff and Julie are our able liturgists. Pastor Jeff M. will pray!
…And we will have several delightful and surprising other ways to make the theme of Defying Gravity real and tangible. I don’t want to say more just yet. But I will tell you that helium is involved, and maybe a trampoline, and a homemade tightrope.
And most fabulously, Open Air Circus, Somerville’s fun and wonderful home-grown circus camp for kids and a friend to our church, is coming to lead a FREE Stilting Workshop after church, for ages 6 and up! It’ll happen right after worship, outdoors, weather permitting, otherwise, in the sanctuary.
As far as bread to go with our circuses:  I’m sorry, but you are NOT allowed to donate to the capital campaign yet. It is not yet time to bring your bread, your dough, your clams, your bling. First we listen and learn and get excited. First we build anticipation, and plan our fabulous outfits for the First Church Semi-Formal on Sunday June 3–an amazing party we are throwing to formally launch the capital campaign and celebrate how far we’ve come in the last decade or so, as a turnaround church. But for now, just enjoy the circuses. Your money’s no good here! Not yet, anyhow.
Other doings after worship, if strapping stilts to your legs and reaching for the sky is not your thing:
~Jeff and Julie will gather a presentation/conversation on the Holy Land, and particularly, their work with Palestinian Christians, in the Chapel during coffee hour. They are warm and smart and wonderful. This is a good chance to learn from eyewitnesses what life there is like.
~Jackie continues Sabbath Yoga at 1pm in the Parlor.
~And later in the afternoon, another life event: the ordination of Ian Holland, our support pastor from last year who led us so skillfully and lovingly during my year in chemo. He’ll be ordained at Old South Church in downtown Boston. Come at 2pm for the pickup choir (we’ll be singing The Deer’s Cry, which we sang for him on his last Sunday among us), or right on time for the ordination worship service at 3pm, near Copley T stop. We can head down together if you like–I’ll be leaving from our church at 1:00pm.
bless you! and keep rising,
Molly
]]> http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/bread-and-circuses-and-the-holy-land/feed/ 0 The Resurrection Embrace http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/the-resurrection-embrace/ http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/the-resurrection-embrace/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:01:45 +0000 Jeffrey Mansfield http://firstchurchsomerville.org/?p=1764 Beloved,

How have your spirits been in the days following Easter?
Mine has been napping.

After the whirlwind of events last week, after the emotional lows and highs, I needed a little break – a deep Holy Spirit SIGH.
The highlights of my week have been drinking tea at Diesel with First Churchers and spending an evening with our Deacons scraping and melting Holy Week wax off of our tablecloths and candle holders.
Simple, slow, and warm.

The Gospel of John says that in the days after the first Easter most of the disciples spent their time locked away in a room together.
Even after Jesus showed up to say, “Peace!” and to bring them the good news, they stayed put, took it easy, soaked it in for about a week.

I hope you’ll join us this Sunday to soak it in together.
We’ll be talking about Thomas, who said, if Jesus is alive, I want to grab him, touch him, hold him!
Thomas needed, in the days after Easter, to embrace the resurrection body – and he got what he asked for.
What are you asking for this week?

Tomorrow, Saturday, our little church will be abuzz with Spring activity.
In honor if the Occupy-inspired 99% Spring, we will be having an all-day training hosted in Duhamel Hall. Check it out – http://civic.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=128674
On Saturday evening, it’s Parent’s Night Out – drop the kiddies off at 5, pick em up at 8!

Sunday morning at 8:45 join us for our pre-church Bible Study in the Parlor.
We’ll be exploring what Jesus could have possibly meant when he said, the poor you will always have with you.

After church, it’s Big Meeting Brunch! This month is Omega, which means that Buildings and Grounds, Communications, Finance, Growth, and Personnel are up to bat!

Looking ahead just a little bit, NEXT Saturday 4/21 will be a great resurrection-embracing day starting at 10 AM as we prep and plant life, food, and beauty in our community garden.

<>

See you all soon!

Jeff

]]> http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/the-resurrection-embrace/feed/ 0 Joy is on the way. http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/joy-is-on-the-way/ http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/joy-is-on-the-way/#comments Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:46:08 +0000 Molly http://firstchurchsomerville.org/?p=1760 Beloved People of the Resurrection,
I just finished my shift over in the sanctuary, for Good Friday. Carmen is home from school today and was so excited to do the stations of the cross for her first time. They are experiential–wear a crown of thorns, hold a cross held daily by three cancer patients in succession over the last three years, taste the salt tears of Jesus. She loved it so much she kept asking me if she could do “one more lap!” Covered in strips of cloth, I finally told her she had to go, in order to be on time for her movie date with a friend.
Some people never miss a Maundy Thursday or a Good Friday service. They flock to sad movies, for the catharsis. They eat up the salty, the sorrowful, the shadow-side of life. It sweetens their joy, when joy comes!
And it’s all coming.
Saturday afternoon, 3:30pm: we need 6-8 willing souls, with their bodies, to help us set up the Easter Reveal. Will you be there? Ideally, we need people who are NOT singing with the choir. We also need to borrow a woman’s red hat–anyone have one to offer? Can you drop it off tomorrow afternoon? and at 5:00pm: Choir rehearsal! You’ve been meaning to do it! Now do it! You won’t regret it–belonging to that swelling sound, safety in numbers!
Saturday evening, 8pm, outside Capuano School in East Somerville, a lantern-lit labyrinth walk that traces Mary Magdalene’s steps to the tomb. Because the choir and Easter Reveal preparations are so giddy, we are adding this service as a sort of “spiritual speed bump” to slow our ascent toward Easter. Maybe we’ll grab a bite to eat together afterward on delicious East Broadway.
Sunday morning, 6am, Sunrise Service at the peak of Powderhouse Park. Jury’s out on clouds or sun, but I’m an optimist and fully expect the sun to rise over Liberty Ave, and smack us in the eye, as we say the word we’ve buried for Lent. Pastor Jeff is offering the message, including a mini-children’s time! Dan L. and I will be playing guitar, with help from other churches/friends along College Ave. Join us!
Sunday morning, 10am, Resurrection Jubilee Worship! Get up! Come on out! Jesus is here, and He wants to resurrect somebody! It might as well be you! Jesus will be there, taking multiple forms. I’ll be preaching. Jeff, his partner Julia and I will lead the Time for Children. Choir and home-grown orchestra and brass ensemble will wake the dead! Michelle S. is our very-much-alive liturgist, for a Resurrection Moment in lieu of a confession, because this of all days, when Jesus has taken the sin of the world into himself, there is no need to free ourselves from the bondage of sin. The nursery will be open and staffed for children under 3; but this is one day when everybody might want to be in worship, making all the joyful noise they like!
After worship, the Fellowship Team is organizing a fantastic spread–please contribute something to the feast! And Debbie Duhamel has been busy as a bunny getting our annual Egg Hunt ready–it’ll happen in the sanctuary about 15 minutes after worship ends.
Holy, Holy, Holy,
Molly
]]> http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/joy-is-on-the-way/feed/ 0 Holy Week and Easter Happenings. http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/holy-week-and-easter-happenings-2/ http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/holy-week-and-easter-happenings-2/#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:17:55 +0000 Molly http://firstchurchsomerville.org/?p=1758 Beloved, here is a complete list of all of our Holy Week goings-on. Use the link to this post to invite your friends!

Is something nudging you to deeper resonance with spring? Is it not enough to eat Cadbury crème eggs and watch the crocuses bloom on your daily commute?

Grow with us. Join us for Holy Week worship at First Church Somerville. For kids, young adults, men and women Of A Certain Age, elders; gay and straight and everything in between; for singles, marrieds; spiritual-but-not-religious and committed disciples of Jesus Christ alike.

Every weekday during Holy Week:
Lenten Morning Prayer, 7 am: a quiet and lovely way to wake up your spirit.

Sunday April 1:

Multichurch, Family-friendly Donkey Walk, 9 am: We’ll gather at Powderhouse Park with Guapo the Donkey to hear the story of the first Palm Sunday, when Jesus, a poor man and a political revolutionary, was crowned king by the people. We’ll walk to Davis Square along with Guapo and the tweenage Jesus he will carry, waving greenery and chanting 1st-century slogans. When we reach Davis Square, we’ll pray for our beloved city, for its good and for what will make it even better! Starting from Powderhouse Park, at College Ave and Broadway.

Gospel Palm Sunday Cantata, 10 am:  under the direction of the amazing Thom Whittemore, a blowout that will take us from praising Jesus as the people’s king to the edge of the cross, the place where all looks dark, but where the light is leaking in. Scrumptious, all-you-can-eat homemade hot-cross buns follow at coffee hour!

Wednesday April 4:
Rest and re/New, a quiet and grounding way to end your day:  worship service of communion and reflection, 6:30 pm in our chapel, with music for meditation at 6:15 pm.

Holy Thursday, April 5:
Beloved Community Last Supper, 6:30 pm: We’ll gather round a feast-table in the sanctuary, to eat middle-eastern finger foods and feel in our bones the fellowship, joy, confusion and edge of fear that other long-ago disciples felt on the eve of their friend’s death. Free, and vegan-friendly.

Service of Shadows, 7 pm: Immediately following supper, we’ll hear readings from the last 24 hours of the life of Jesus eerily interspersed with contemporary poems; we’ll sing moving songs, we’ll keep watch and pray, as the light goes out of the world.

Good Friday, April 6:
Good Friday Worship, 7 am-7 pm:  The sanctuary will open for meditation, healing prayer with our deacons and ministers, and a modern take on the Stations of the Cross as we sit vigil with our dying God. Every hour on the hour, we will chant and hear a collect. At 3 pm, we will commemorate the death-moment of Jesus, our brother and the one who saves us every day, with a brief worship service. At 6:30, we will repeat the 3 pm service for those who could not attend earlier.

Holy Saturday, April 7:
Labyrinth Walk in East(er) Somerville, 8 pm. We’ll meet at the outdoor labyrinth at the Capuano School on Glen St, guided by Pastor Jeff and luminaria, with a surprise at the center. If you’ve never walked a labyrinth, come learn the beautiful power of putting your life back together as you unravel a mystery.

Easter Sunday, April 8:
Multichurch Sunrise Service, 6 am: We’ll meet on the peak of Powderhouse Park as the shadows shorten, as the sun rises, and we feel the truth:  God has conquered death itself, and Jesus is risen! Children most welcome. Guitars and trumpet will wake us up (but hopefully not the neighbors). Look for the luminaria as you climb the hill, and dress warmly!!

Easter Soul Sunday Celebration, 10 am: A standing-room-only worship service for all! Brass, bells, electric guitar.  Nursery care will be available for young ones ages 0-3. Easter egg hunt to follow worship. Wear frilly bonnets, or come as you are, and discover new life in the form of Beloved Community.

 

 

 

]]> http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/holy-week-and-easter-happenings-2/feed/ 0 Meeting Jesus, all week long. http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/meeting-jesus-all-week-long/ http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/meeting-jesus-all-week-long/#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:16:11 +0000 Molly http://firstchurchsomerville.org/?p=1755 Beloved, there is a chance to meet Jesus every day this week. Of course, that’s true every week–but, let’s say, your church is making it particularly easy (we hope) to do so, in community, this week.
Tomorrow, Jesus will (He usually does) be at the Diesel with me and some other folks, as we talk over the tornadoes in Texas, the Republican nominees, Obamacare, the Supreme Court decisions, why bad things happen to good people, what’s happening in people’s job searches, how cute Sammy Davenny is, and much more. We’ll be there from 8:30-10:00 if you want to join us. As ever, I can make one on one time if there is something particular you’d like to talk to me about.
In the evening, a special Rest and re/New, at 6:15pm, to gather your spirit for Holy Week. Stay tuned for an update from Keith!
Thursday, we’ll gather for Maundy Thursday service. “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandare, to command, and refers to Jesus’ parting commandment that we love one another as he loves us. We’ll gather for our own Last Supper–modern disciples around the table, at 6:30pm. We will have a mostly vegan feast of Mediterranean food. Free! Invite people who are hungry for supper, and/or hungry for God.
At 7pm, we’ll pile up the broken pieces, pile our broken selves into the pews, and hear haunting readings from the last 24 hours in Jesus’ life, singing brooding songs, hear pungent poems, and, if we can access our own grief, weep with Jesus. It is GOOD church. Trust me.
Friday, you can worship briefly at 7am with Ian at Morning Prayer, again at 3:00pm or 6:30pm when we mark the moment of Jesus’ death. The sanctuary will be open all day for prayer:  we will have a self-guided experiential Stations of the Cross that you can pray through at your leisure. And every hour, on the hour, we will have a brief collect and chant, together.
Saturday, we will be readying for Easter in rehearsal, preparation and worship. Come at 3:30pm if you’d like to help us set up the Easter Reveal (we need about 3-4 people, in addition to me, Jeff and our wonder-altar-maker Deacon Heather: will you RSVP to me?), making the magic that everyone will experience on Sunday. Come at 5pm if you’d like to join the pickup choir, under Thom’s loving direction (from beginners to experienced singers! All are welcome!). And at 8pm come to the labyrinth in the playground outside Capuano School, 150 Glen St. in East Somerville, where we will channel the Mary Magdalene story, preparing to anoint Jesus for burial. If you need a ride to the labyrinth, email Jeff Mansfield at jmansfield@firstchurchsomerville.org.
circling in on the Resurrection,
Molly
]]> http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/04/meeting-jesus-all-week-long/feed/ 0 Entering the gates of Holy Week. http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/03/entering-the-gates-of-holy-week/ http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/03/entering-the-gates-of-holy-week/#comments Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:07:21 +0000 Molly http://firstchurchsomerville.org/?p=1751  Hello Beloved!
It’s almost here: the most jam-packed and dramatic week of the year in our beloved community.
Maybe you love Easter, but have never gone for a spin on any of the other Holy Week rides. Maybe this is your year to try one of them out. There are many flavors: big bold worship, quiet intimate worship, self-guided worship, indoor and outdoor worship, early morning and late evening, family-friendly and super-solemn. God is planning to attend all of them. Jesus, too–except for Holy Saturday, when he will have descended into Hell, to free every soul there.
The entire list of our worship services is here. What’s that you say? You want to bring some friends, or your stepmom, or your roommate? We thought you’d never ask! This might also be the time of year when your boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other might consider coming to church, too–because they know they can slip in and out (relatively)  unobserved. It would be good to come early on Palm Sunday and Easter, to get a good seat!
It all starts this Sunday with the Palm Sunday Donkey Walk (outside, Powderhouse Park, 8:55am! starring Guapo the Donkey, and Rafe B as Jesus), and our roof-rocking (we ought to be careful with that!) Palm Sunday Gospel Cantata (inside, 10am!). Thom has once again done it–pulled together amazing music, singers of varying abilities, and our awesome home-grown Project Soul band, to make our joy complete.
Jeff and I will be co-liturgists and co-preachers for the morning, and will close out our sermon series on the cardinal sins by putting Anger to bed. It is also the 7th in our Recovery series, and I will address the seventh step: “Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.”
The children will start the morning in worship with us, as we process around the sanctuary with palms flying and voices singing an original song our own Thom wrote for the occasion! Flying Hedgehogs are invited to stay with us for the Cantata, befitting their (ahem) mature status, while the Godly Play and Nursery children head downstairs before coming back to worship in time for the offering.
After worship: tea and coffee on our silver tea service, and hot Hot Cross Buns! Trinitarian, Unitarian, vegan (dairy- and egg-free), or Dibbie-style* (*fruit-free). All of them guaranteed free of tree nuts and peanuts so that all can come to the feast. Consider dressing fancy for the occasion!
bless you, and may you be a blessing,
Molly
]]> http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/03/entering-the-gates-of-holy-week/feed/ 0 Sloth. *yawn* http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/03/sloth-yawn/ http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/03/sloth-yawn/#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:58:24 +0000 Molly http://firstchurchsomerville.org/?p=1749 Oh my beloved Beloved,
We’re finally arriving at the subtle, interesting cardinal sins. Gluttony, greed, envy, pride, lust–pah! We mock them. So OB-vious. But what about sloth? Not mere laziness–no, sloth is insidious. The actual Latin word, acedia, that brings us sloth, is more closely translated “despair.” Uh-oh. Now we’re in trouble. I think I despaired three times before breakfast this morning. They all happened to be when I was lying in bed, listening to NPR, trying to figure out how to fix this world we’re in.
At least we’re in it together. Won’t you come despair with me, and maybe hope a little too, this Sunday? It’s a Jubilee Sunday. Even if the sermon doesn’t move you, doubtless someone age 2 or 5 or 10 (or 22 or 53 or 88) will. They will do or say something will make you say, “Now that there–that’s God at play. That just makes me want to get out of bed tomorrow, just to see what’s going to happen next, when there are people like that in the world.”
The junior choir is singing! And so are we. We’ll also be baptizing–the venerable Elias. I’ll preach, if I can get out of bed. Ellen O. is our able liturgist. Pastor Jeff prays with us.
There will some time with the children up on the chancel–children, will you bring your pillows back to church? I heard all about Jeff’s great sermon last month, and I feel like I missed out. Surely there’s room in a sermon on Sloth for some pillows?
Oh, and one more thing–Holy Week is coming! No really, it is! It’s pretty soon. Don’t you have some friends, or neighbors, or roommates you want to invite to church? They have been dying to come and needed an ‘excuse.’ Here it is. A full listing of all of our services is on the website:
Bless you, Beloved–and may you be a blessing to someone tomorrow!
Molly
]]> http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/03/sloth-yawn/feed/ 0 Holy Week and Easter Happenings. http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/03/holy-week-and-easter-happenings/ http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/03/holy-week-and-easter-happenings/#comments Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:45:32 +0000 Molly http://firstchurchsomerville.org/?p=1745 Beloved, here is a complete list of all of our Holy Week goings-on. Use the link to this post to invite your friends!

Is something nudging you to deeper resonance with spring? Is it not enough to eat Cadbury crème eggs and watch the crocuses bloom on your daily commute?

Grow with us. Join us for Holy Week worship at First Church Somerville. For kids, young adults, men and women Of A Certain Age, elders; gay and straight and everything in between; for singles, marrieds; spiritual-but-not-religious and committed disciples of Jesus Christ alike.

Every weekday during Holy Week:
Lenten Morning Prayer, 7 am: a quiet and lovely way to wake up your spirit.

Sunday April 1:

Multichurch, Family-friendly Donkey Walk, 9 am: We’ll gather at Powderhouse Park with Guapo the Donkey to hear the story of the first Palm Sunday, when Jesus, a poor man and a political revolutionary, was crowned king by the people. We’ll walk to Davis Square along with Guapo and the tweenage Jesus he will carry, waving greenery and chanting 1st-century slogans. When we reach Davis Square, we’ll pray for our beloved city, for its good and for what will make it even better! Starting from Powderhouse Park, at College Ave and Broadway.

Gospel Palm Sunday Cantata, 10 am:  under the direction of the amazing Thom Whittemore, a blowout that will take us from praising Jesus as the people’s king to the edge of the cross, the place where all looks dark, but where the light is leaking in. Scrumptious, all-you-can-eat homemade hot-cross buns follow at coffee hour!

Wednesday April 4:
Rest and re/New, a quiet and grounding way to end your day:  worship service of communion and reflection, 6:30 pm in our chapel, with music for meditation at 6:15 pm.

Holy Thursday, April 5:
Beloved Community Last Supper, 6:30 pm: We’ll gather round a feast-table in the sanctuary, to eat middle-eastern finger foods and feel in our bones the fellowship, joy, confusion and edge of fear that other long-ago disciples felt on the eve of their friend’s death. Free, and vegan-friendly.

Service of Shadows, 7 pm: Immediately following supper, we’ll hear readings from the last 24 hours of the life of Jesus eerily interspersed with contemporary poems; we’ll sing moving songs, we’ll keep watch and pray, as the light goes out of the world.

Good Friday, April 6:
Good Friday Worship, 7 am-7 pm:  The sanctuary will open for meditation, healing prayer with our deacons and ministers, and a modern take on the Stations of the Cross as we sit vigil with our dying God. Every hour on the hour, we will chant and hear a collect. At 3 pm, we will commemorate the death-moment of Jesus, our brother and the one who saves us every day, with a brief worship service. At 6:30, we will repeat the 3 pm service for those who could not attend earlier.

Holy Saturday, April 7:
Labyrinth Walk in East(er) Somerville, 8 pm. We’ll meet at the outdoor labyrinth at the Capuano School on Glen St, guided by Pastor Jeff and luminaria, with a surprise at the center. If you’ve never walked a labyrinth, come learn the beautiful power of putting your life back together as you unravel a mystery.

Easter Sunday, April 8:
Multichurch Sunrise Service, 6 am: We’ll meet on the peak of Powderhouse Park as the shadows shorten, as the sun rises, and we feel the truth:  God has conquered death itself, and Jesus is risen! Children most welcome. Guitars and trumpet will wake us up (but hopefully not the neighbors). Look for the luminaria as you climb the hill, and dress warmly!!

Easter Soul Sunday Celebration, 10 am: A standing-room-only worship service for all! Brass, bells, electric guitar.  Nursery care will be available for young ones ages 0-3. Easter egg hunt to follow worship. Wear frilly bonnets, or come as you are, and discover new life in the form of Beloved Community.

 

 

 

]]> http://firstchurchsomerville.org/2012/03/holy-week-and-easter-happenings/feed/ 0