More Than a Mascot

by Father Casey

It is possible to call yourself a Christian all your life but only ever know Jesus as a mascot. There have been Christians since at least the time of the Emperor Constantine who have proudly boasted of faith in Christ, but who treat him like a prop. Jesus is Lord, they say, and then they ask him to expand their power, bless their armies, and help them bring destruction to their enemies. Never mind that Jesus emptied himself of power, rebuked the ways of empire and armies, and used his final breaths to forgive the ones who killed him.

Yes, there will always be those who know Jesus as a mascot, and we saw it again a few weeks ago in a prayer service at the Pentagon. The Secretary of Defense publicly prayed for Christ to help “every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation,” and to give “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.” This is the prayer of someone who has spent far too much time in the book of Joshua and far too little time in the gospels. There is only one way to characterize invoking Jesus Christ to bring death and destruction to others: ...

In this E-news:

Palm Cross Making with DOK
Holy Week Schedule
Palm Sunday
Monday - Wednesday Noon Eucharist
Passion Experience for Families
Tenebrae
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday Soup Supper
Sign-up for to Keep Watch
Bread & Wine for Maundy Thursday
Good Friday Liturgies
The Great Vigil of Easter with Baptisms
Support Break The Fast
EMF Goes to the Ballgame

Ramp Project April Event
Get Ready for Dallas Pride
Figs with Kids Monthly Lunch
Serve at St.Jude Center
Serve at Austin Street Center
Volunteer for Guns to Gardens
Save the Date: Garage Sale
Save the Date: Parish-wide Retreat
The Saint John's Bible and a Canterbury Connection
Your Children and Holy Week
Passion Experience for Families
Outdoor Stations of the Cross
Children's Easter & Flowering of the Cross
VBS - June 1 - June 5
Clothes Horse Closed Holy Week

This Weekend

Palm Cross Making Saturday

It's your once-a-year opportunity to join Daughters of the King for palm cross making in the Vestry Room tomorrow, Saturday March 28, from 10:00am - noon. Drop by to help make the folded palm crosses that are distributed on Palm Sunday. All materials and instruction are provided. It’s simple and fun to do.

Contact

Olga Ruff

Be a Part of Holy Week

View Full Holy Week Details Here

Palm Sunday

The triumphal start of Holy Week is this weekend.

Saturday

March 28 at 5:30pm

Sunday

March 29 at 9:00am & 11:15am

Noon Eucharists

Featuring stories from Jesus' final week. Our preacher is author, pastor, and spiritual director Danielle Shroyer.

Monday

March 30 at 12:00noon

Tuesday

March 31 at 12:00noon

Wednesday

April 1 at 12:00noon

Wednesday

The Passion Experience for Families

Wednesday at 6:00pm [registration required]

Tenebrae at 7:00pm

View descriptions and registration details

The Triduum

Maundy Thursday

The Triduum begins with the Holy Eucharist, the washing of feet, and the Watch Before the Blessed Sacrament.

Join us April 2 at 7:00pm for this holy start of the holiest three days of the Christian life.

Please take note of the other events of this evening:

Maundy Thursday Soup Supper

Open Door, our LGBTQ+ fellowship, will host Maundy Thursday’s Soup Supper on April 2. They have chosen Trans Lifeline as the beneficiary of proceeds from this year’s meal.

The suggested donation for the supper is $7/person or $25 for a family of 4 or more. You can sign-up and pay in advance or pay at the door. Dinner will be served prior to the Maundy Thursday service from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.

Sign-up & Pay in Advance

Bring Bread & Wine on Maundy Thursday

It is customary to bring loaves of bread and bottles of wine with you when you come to the Maundy Thursday Holy Eucharist at 7:00pm on April 2. The bread collected is shared with others and the wine is poured at the Break the Fast Feast following the Great Vigil of Easter.

Sign-up to Keep Watch

Help us keep vigil through the night before the Blessed Sacrament in Holy Cross Chapel following the Maundy Thursday Eucharist until Noon on Good Friday. Volunteers may register to keep watch for an hour, in keeping with Christ's invitation to his disciples to stay awake with him (Matthew 26:36-45). This is a powerful time of intimate spiritual connection to the Lord. There are still a couple of time slots needing watchers. Please consider joining us.

Sign-Up to Keep Watch

Good Friday Liturgy

April 3 at Noon

Stations of the Cross

April 3 at 2:30pm

Outdoor Stations of the Cross for Families and Children

April 3 at 5:30pm

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday Liturgy of the Day

April 4 at 8:00am – 8:30am

The Great Vigil of Easter

April 4 at 8:00pm

The Break the Fast Feast

April 4 following the Vigil

Support

Break the Fast

Following the Great Vigil of Easter on Holy Saturday, April 4, it is a long standing tradition to continue our celebration as the long Lenten Fast is now ended. You are urged to join in helping to make this event truly joyful. Use the buttons below to make your contribution whether it is of food for the event or a monetary contribution.

Sign-up to Bring Food Here

Make a Monetary Contribution

Easter Day

Holy Eucharist
Sunday, April 5 at 9:00am

Children's Easter Eucharist
Sunday, April 5 at 9:30am Roper Hall

Butterfly Release

Sunday, April 5 at 10:30am

Bell Tower Garden

Holy Eucharist
Sunday, April 5 at 11:15am

Outreach & More in Eastertide

EMF Goes to

The Ballgame

The Episcopal Men's Fellowship is sponsoring its annual visit to the Frisco Rough Riders game on April 10. Cost is $29/person, which includes a $10 concession voucher. There are 15 tickets available. Sign up below or at the EMF table in the Tower Cloister. Hurry and get yours before they’re all gone!

Sign-up & Purchase Now

Ramp Project

April Sign-up

The volunteers of The Dallas Ramp Project construct ramps for financially vulnerable elderly and disabled individuals, enabling them to exit their residences, particularly in emergency situations such as fires. Our next project is Saturday, April 11. You need to sign up no later than the Monday before our project date.

Sign-up by April 6

Getting Ready for Dallas Pride

The Dallas Pride Festival and Parade will be Saturday June 6 in downtown Dallas with the parade starting at 7:00pm. Come by our booth in the Gathering Space starting April 12 to buy baked goods to support our parade entry and sign up for the parade. You can also buy our t-shirts and other merchandise during this time. We can use your help by bringing baked goods for our sale.

Contact

Brooke Robb

Figs With Kids Monthly Lunch

Join Figs With Kids for their Family Lunch on April 12 at Don Pepe's in Hillcrest Village. We will head over after Formation/Godly Play, planning to gather at the restaurant around 11:15am.

Serve at

St. Jude Center

We invite you to prepare food and serve it to the residents at St. Jude Center on Tuesday, April 14. This is a great time of fellowship and extending care to our neighbors. Full details of the food items needed are in the sign-up below.

Sign-up to Serve

Serve at

Austin Street

Join our decades long ministry to the clients at Austin Street Center. Once a month we provide dinner to 400+ individuals. This month our meal is on Wednesday, April 15. Sign-up below for full details and requirements.

Sign-up to Serve

Volunteer with
Guns to Gardens

On April 18, Transfiguration will once again co-sponsor Guns to Gardens, at which the Biblical vision of “swords into plowshares” will come to life (Micah 4:3). The next event will be held at Royal Lane Baptist Church, and it will closely resemble the event held here last September. At G2G, owners of unwanted firearms can safely surrender them to be chopped into parts and transformed into garden tools.

Volunteers are essential, especially people who can operate a chop saw or have received gun safety training. Contact Fr. Casey with questions or to find out how you can help.

Contact

Fr. Casey

Save These Important Dates

Parish-wide

Garage Sale
May 29 & 30

Donate to and attend our first Parish-wide Garage Sale since 2016! Proceeds from this sale will support the Youth Pilgrimage to Scotland in 2027.

If you have items such as furniture that require pickup, click the button below to let us know so that we can arrange transportation to the sale.

Volunteers will be needed to help staff this event, as well. More details on how to volunteer will be provided in coming weeks.

Contact About Donation Pickup

Parish-wide

Retreat
January 22–24, 2027

Mark your calendars for a weekend of fun, fellowship, and spiritual growth with your Fig Family in the refreshing setting of Camp Allen.

Registration and details about this weekend retreat will be shared in coming weeks, but for now we hope you’ll save the date in your calendar!

Learn More About Camp Allen

Canterbury Connections

At Wednesday's installation of the Most Reverend Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury, she made her oath with her hand on a Heritage Edition of the St. John's Bible. It was given to Canterbury Cathedral by our own parishioners, Bruce and Elaine Culver, who were also the principal sponsors of our own Heritage Edition. We are, indeed, blessed to own one of these extraordinary Bibles!

Introduce Your Children to Holy Week

About now, our children will be thinking about bunny rabbits, Easter eggs and baskets, and time home from school. In our excitement of preparing for Easter celebrations, we must not overlook the importance of this as a time to instill in children, through prayer and practice, the importance of Holy Week. We have special Holy Week experiences for families with young Children and we look forward to sharing them with you:

Holy Week offering for families

Passion Experience for Families / April 1 / 6:00pm (Nursery Care Available)

Good Friday Stations / April 3 / 5:30pm (Nursery Care Available)

Easter Day Service / April 5 / 9:30am / Roper Hall (Nursery Care Available)

Butterfly Release Immediately following the 9:30am service at the Bell Tower

Passion Experience

for Families

Wednesday, April 1

6:00pm to 8:00pm

Special Dinner Served

Kids and their families will experience an amazing and thought-provoking Easter journey together: Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, the significance of the Last Supper, the darkness at Gethsemane, the confusion of Good Friday, the silence of Holy Saturday and the Joy of Easter. Families will walk together from station to station, experiencing this journey. Bring a picnic blanket that will be used at each station. We will share a special meal with Jesus and his disciples.

Good Friday

Stations of the Cross

Good Friday

April 3, 2026

5:30pm – 6:30pm

The Stations of the Cross for Children and Families is a powerful way to enter into the mystery of Jesus’ gift of himself by involving our senses, our experience, and our emotions.

We walk our campus to different locations for this outdoor service. The stations will be marked with paintings the children of Transfiguration have created. This interactive experience is open to all who wish to participate.

Children's Easter Service
Flowering the Cross

Join us Easter morning for a special Children's Easter Eucharist at 9:30am in Roper Hall. You are encouraged to bring flowers from your home to help decorate our cross. Families will be invited to place their flowers on the cross at the beginning of the service. The decorated cross will be placed outside for out butterfly release immediately following the service.