Celebrating Holy Week as a Family
At Church of the Redeemer, we desire to nurture each child’s spiritual formation from before birth. We believe it is our role as their faith community to help support families as they walk with our children through each stage of life. We tailor experiences in worship, education, and fellowship to the individual developmental needs of the child in order to cultivate an understanding of God’s profound love for them.
As one of the central celebrations of the church year, Holy Week and Eastertide hold some special opportunities for all of us!
On Maundy Thursday we remember the last supper that Jesus shared with his disciples. This was celebrated during the Jewish Passover, an ancient feast of freedom. Before the children join the adults in the sanctuary for a time of foot-washing, they will have the opportunity to celebrate that memorial together in the greenhouse with costumes and some of the elements of the Seder meal.
On Good Friday, the children (unless they need nursery care) will stay in the service with the adults. This is a somber but shorter and heavily symbolic service. For us to enter fully into the joy of the resurrection, we cannot neglect to consider the cost. Good Friday is a powerful way to do that together as a church family.
Our Easter celebration on Saturday night as we wait, or hold vigil for, the day of Resurrection is a service held later in the evening. The excitement of staying up late waiting for the Light of the World is a powerful experience! Please consider attending this service, even if you have children! However, in case you miss it, the liturgy of this special service is condensed into a special Liturgy of Light service that we will share together on Sunday, April 28. Parents of all children ages 3 - 3rd grade are invited to join us for a celebration of Easter during the regular Catechesis time of the Sunday service.
In these events of the Last Supper, passion, death, and resurrection, we are actually living ONE moment. It is in this context and understanding that this tremendous act of violence is understood as a tremendous act of love. And it is in this context that Easter Sunday becomes an especially joy-filled service. I know you'll want to attend one of our two services on Easter morning; either the earlier, shorter, service at 8 am or the regular service at 10am. We hope to see you then!
