The church year begins with the season of Advent and ends with the Trinity season. The first half of the church year (approximately December through June) highlights the life of Christ. The second half (approximately June through November) highlights the teachings of Christ. During the church year, the colors of the paraments, vestments, altar clothes, banners change to accentuate the mood of the season such as festive, penitential, and neutral nature.
ADVENT
The church year starts with Advent, which is from the Latin word for "coming." During the season of Advent, we focus on the "coming" of our Lord Jesus Christ "the Word" into the flesh.
There are two service times to choose from on Wednesdays, 10:00 AM followed by a light dessert, and 7:00 PM preceded by dinner starting at 6:00 PM.
Learn more about why the church year begins with Advent.
An explanation of the Advent Candles:
- The First Advent Candle - The candle of Prophecy - Symbolizes the Old Testament prophecies of the Advent, or coming of our Savior.
- The Second Advent Candle - The Bethlehem candle - Symbolizes the coming on earth of Jesus, the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary.
- The Third Advent Candle - The Shepherd candle - Symbolizes the coming of the Savior into our hearts and life through His holy Word.
- The Fourth Advent Candle - The Angel candle - Symbolizes the final coming of the Savior in glory with all His angels for the Judgment.
- The Christ Candle (white) - Symbolizes the fulfillment of prophecy - the nativity of Jesus Christ, the Savior and Light of the world.
CHRISTMAS EVE
There are three service times to choose from, 3:00 PM, 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM candlelight.
CHRISTMAS DAY
At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - Our Emmanuel, which means "God with us."
Service time is 10:00 AM.
EPIPHANY
Epiphany is from the Greek work which means to "reveal" or "make manifest" and it is the time when we focus on the revelation of who Jesus is - both true God and man. The Epiphany season marks the beginning of Jesus' public ministry.
Service time is 7:00 PM.
Learn more about Epiphany.
LENT
Ash Wednesday is the custom of placing ashes in the sign of the cross upon one's forehead as a gesture of repentance and and a powerful reminder of our dust-to-dustness and our need for cleansing.
Learn more about Ash Wednesday.
Lent is the season of penitence and preparation for Easter. It is the time when we meditate on the suffering and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Learn more about Lent.
There are two service times to choose from on Wednesdays, 10:00 AM followed by a light dessert, and 7:00 PM preceeded by dinner starting at 6:15 PM.
The forty days of Lent draw to a close in the three great days of Holy Week, called the "Triduum:" Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Often treated as one long service, these three days place our Lord's Passion at the center of our lives. We go home to rest and rise to labor, only to return and find that our Lord continues to labor for us. This one long service traces the days of our Lord's Passion, when He labored in love, and offered His life for the forgiveness of our sin.
PALM SUNDAY
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The crowds that met him cheered and praised him shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" while spreading palm fronds and clothing before him in the road as they welcomed what they thought was their earthly king.
Service times are 8:00 and 10:45 AM.
Learn more about Holy Week.
MAUNDY THURSDAY
The word “Maundy” is derived from the Latin, dies mandate, the Day of the Commandment, referring to the words from the Gospel, “You also ought to wash one another’s feet,” and “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.”
Maundy Thursday was the day when Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room and instituted the Lord's Supper, sharing his body and blood with them. That same evening he was betrayed by Judas over to the Pharisees while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Even when faced with betrayal, Jesus remined faithful to His Father's mission.
At the conclusion of the Maundy Thursday service, in preparation for Good Friday, the linens and furnishings of the altar are reverently removed, as Psalm 22 is chanted.
Service time is 7:00 PM.
GOOD FRIDAY
Good Friday was the day when Jesus suffered intense torture at the hands of the Roman guards followed by his crucifixion on the cross on Mount Calvary while carrying the sins of the world on Him and feeling the separation from God. We meditate upon how much our God and Savior loved us to be obedient to the will of the Father, even unto death.
The latter part of the Good Friday service is patterned after the ancient office of Tenebrae. The word "tenebrae" means darkness. The purpose of the service is to impress upon us the terrible reality of sin, which caused our Savior to die for us. The Exit of the Christ Candle signifies Christ's death and burial. The sound of a loud noise (the strepitus) signifies that with the sealed tomb, the meaning of the cross is fulfilled, the sacrifice completed. The Christ Candle is not extinguished at any time during the service, as it is symbolic of the eternal light of Gods's love.
Traditionally, this name is an English expression of what used to be called “Pascha” – the Jewish Passover celebrated at this time. We say “Good Friday” since this title reflects the joy of completed redemption as it protests against the notion that this day must be shrouded in funeral gloom. Although our Tenebrae Service progresses to darkness, the light of Christ reigns at the end and God’s peace is pronounced to the congregation in hopeful anticipation of the Easter Resurrection.
Service time is 7:00 PM.
EASTER VIGIL
A Service that anticipates our celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord. This Service of Scripture is for the purpose of waiting and watching for the Lord’s deliverance. The watching through the night is an expression of the ancient Christian conviction that when Christ, the Daybreak, returns, it will be at the rising of the sun.
Traditionally this service would continue through the night into the next morning – Easter Sunday.
Service time is 7:00 PM.
EASTER
THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD. The Lord is risen from the grave!
Easter Sunday is the day when the stone was rolled away from the tomb and we celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ raising from the dead once and for all, crushing Satan, fulfilling God's law and establishing a new covenant between God and man.
The gates of the Lord have been opened for His people. We are bound to praise God for the glorious resurrection of our Lord! Praise God from whom all blessings flow. He lives… and so do we! Amen! Alleluia!
Service times are 6:00, 8:00, and 10:45 AM.
Learn more about Easter.
