Holy Week is the most sacred time in the Church calendar; it follows the outline of the last week of Jesus’ life, culminating in his death and resurrection. This year Holy Week begins on March 28 and ends with the Easter Vigil on April 3. Plans for Holy Week 2021 have been crafted by an amazing network of St. Martin’s community members and have been steered by this year’s Holy Week Task Force, including: Carolyn Chamberlain, Pamela Dolan, Carla Harris, Carole Hom, Alex Leach, Susan Lugo, and Marianne Wilcox.
Unless otherwise noted, the services below will be held via our regular Sunday morning worship Zoom link and streamed simultaneously on Facebook Live. Palms for Palm Sunday, pre-consecrated hosts, and other materials will be available for pickup on Saturday, March 27, from 2 to 3 pm. Please be in touch with the office if you need to arrange a different time.
Palm Sunday (March 28, at 10 am) marks the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, followed by a dramatized reading of the Passion narrative. Simply come, participate, and enjoy as you do each Sunday.
Maundy Thursday (April 1, at 7 pm) commemorates the Last Supper and Jesus’ acts of service to his disciples. This service will include an opportunity for households or individuals to do either a foot washing or hand washing ritual at home at the appropriate time in the service (instructions available here: St.Martin-Foot-Washing-Instructions (1). This service will also involve Shared Home Communion & the ritual of stripping the altar.
Good Friday (April 2) will have two offerings, both centered around the Stations of the Cross. From 3 – 6 pm there will be a modified outdoor Stations of the Cross on the church campus. Those who attended the Ash Wednesday outdoor prayer walk will find many parallels to that experience. There will be five stations set up around the church campus, each with your choice of a written or audio reflection; at each station there also will be physical stuff that you can interact with to deepen the reflection. The self-guided prayer walk begins under the covered awning in front of the sanctuary.
At 7 pm, there will be a Stations of the Cross service online. This service is the traditional Way of the Cross service found in our Book of Occasional Services; it includes readings and prayers and focuses on the fourteen beautiful Stations that adorn our worship space. As is customary for Good Friday, there will be no sermon and no communion.
The Great Vigil of Easter (April 3 at 8 pm) is back this year! This service has been shortened and modified to make it more appropriate for Zoom, while still maintaining many of the cherished Easter Vigil traditions, including lighting the New Fire and the Paschal Candle and singing the Exsultet. This service will be done from our homes and will include Shared Home Communion. We invite people to begin the service in relative darkness (you may wish to have a dim lamp or even a candle) so that you can join us in the ritual of turning on the lights and making a joyful noise (have bells or other noise-makers on hand!) midway through the service.
Easter Sunday (April 4) is our annual celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord, the victory of life and love over death and sin. At 7:30 am we will offer an in-person worship service on our labyrinth. There will be no music and all safety precautions will need to be taken, including masks and appropriate physical distancing. Registration is required. Details about how to register will be available soon or you can contact the church office to be included in the lottery, if one becomes necessary due to space restrictions.
Our main service will be at 10 am on Zoom and Facebook Live, using the usual Sunday morning link. This will be a joyful celebration which will include Shared Home Communion, great music, and a sermon.
