Maundy Thursday (March 29, 5:30pm): The name comes from the Latin mandatum, the root of our English word “mandate” or “command”.  It refers to the new commandment to “love one another” (John 13:34) that Jesus gave his disciples after he had washed their feet on the Thursday of his final week in Jerusalem.  Tonight we move through Jesus’ final evening with his disciples, beginning with the Passover meal, through his anguished prayer in the garden of Gethsemane to his betrayal and arrest.  Our liturgy highlights many of these key moments.  We, too, will be invited to wash one another’s feet as a sign of our willingness to follow Jesus’ mandate to love one another.  We will recall the last supper in which Jesus instituted Holy Communion on the night before he died by doing as he commanded: do this for the remembrance of me.  The service concludes with a dramatic stripping of the altar: the lights in the sanctuary dim gradually as clergy and acolytes, now dressed in black, remove all altar hangings, candles, vessels and appointments until the altar area is completely bare, at which time the sanctuary becomes completely dark.  Those who wish to wait with Christ as the disciples were asked to do at Gethsemane can move to the chapel, which will have been transformed into a garden.  You can say a prayer, sit and meditate with the body of Christ, represented in your fellow silent worshippers and in the reserved sacrament stored there.  Many people find such silent prayer to be deeply moving.

Wednesday Evening Tenebrae (March 28, 5:30pm): a service of readings and choral meditations on Christ’s passion.  This dramatic service is marked by the extinguishing of candles after each set of readings with music, so that the lights dim until, representing Jesus’ death, we are in complete darkness. (Tenebrae means “shadows” or “darkening”). After the tolling of the mourning bell, the service concludes as a Christ candle is returned – a sign of our hope for the Easter to come, and all depart in silence.

THE PUBLIC IS WELCOME. Shrove Tuesday Pancake Lunch – February 13^th, from 11:00am to 1:00pm.  Once again the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) are hosting a special Shrove Tuesday Pancake Lunch with pancakes, sausage, syrup, fruit and sherbet.  Tickets are $8.00 for adults, $4.00 for children.  Consider making a donation, too, so that someone who cannot afford the meal could join us.  All are invited to this traditional feast before the season of Lent begins on Wednesday, February 14. The annual pancake luncheon is just one off many events hosted by the ECW to support community outreach activities.

Tuesday Evening Bible Study – meets in the Vestry Room at 6:00pm.  Lee Karker is facilitating a series on the World and Letters of St. Paul. The study will include short videos, followed by discussion of scripture and history. This series can be joined at any time; no advance preparation is necessary.  An outline of the series is available in the Narthex.

Tuesday Morning Bible Study – 9:00am group meets in the Parlor to review next Sunday’s lectionary readings. Drawn from such practices as Lectio Divina, Ignatian contemplation of Scripture, or what nowadays is sometimes called “Dwelling in the Word” (a practice used regularly by our Vestry).  This way of reading invites the Spirit to speak through the Scriptures to you now and increases your own ability to notice and be moved by God through Scripture.