Why should you spend 5 hours at church next week?  It sounds like a lot when you say it like that.  Does our preacher really expect I’ve got five spare hours? No, no, she doesn’t.  We are all busy people.  The most significant investment we make in anything is time.  But the story of Holy Week is worth your time and attention.  It is the most important story we tell. 

Easter is our biggest holiday.  I know Christmas is shiny, and it grabs a lot more cultural attention.  But Easter is the foundation of our entire faith.  And the only road to Easter goes through Holy Week.  To appreciate the resurrection, we must stand at the cross and acknowledge death.  To go to the cross, we must sit in the garden and know betrayal.  To reach the garden, we must enter Jerusalem and understand why Christ was so dangerous in the first place. 



During Holy Week, we tell a single, continuous story.  So, I know that no one has five spare hours in a week, but these hours aren’t extra; they are essential.  They are the story that makes us who we are as individuals and a community.  I encourage you this year to engage the whole story.  If you can't attend every worship service, set aside time each day to read the day's lectionary passage.  You can find the readings along with art and prayers at: Vanderbilt Divinity Library's site.  Walk the road of Holy Week with Jesus.   Come walk the road with us at Grace.  Experience the whole story of Easter this year.  

Palm Sunday- 11 am in the Sanctuary with special performance by the children. 

Holy Thursday - 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary with Communion. 

Good Friday- 7 pm in the Sanctuary led by the choir 

Easter Sunday- 11 am in the Sanctuary 

Easter Egg Hunt - Following the Easter service.  We will begin in the Fellowship Hall. Children aged 0-3 years will search in the Plum Court, and those aged 4 and above will search in the playground.