Opportunities to Practice Your Faith During Holy Week
Though we’re apart from our church community this week, there are many ways we can celebrate Christ’s passion and resurrection on our own, with our families, or online. Look below for a variety of practices that you can engage during Holy Week.
Holy Week Services via Facebook Live
- Maundy Thursday @ 7:30p | Facebook Live
- Good Friday @ 12:15p | Facebook Live
- Easter Sunrise @ 6:15a | Facebook Live
- Easter Celebration @ 10:00a | Facebook Live
If you can’t join us live, you can watch our services any time on our website, Facebook page, or YouTube channel. Links for these can be found at www.pclawrenceville.org/stayconnected.
Easter Video Project: He is Risen!
Help us with our Easter video project! Simply create a video with your best “CHRIST IS RISEN!” or “HE IS RISEN INDEED,” and click here to upload it. We’ll stitch it together into a video montage and use it at the beginning of our Easter service as we did with our palms last week.
Celebrating Communion Remotely
Can we participate in Communion virtually? In Tuesday’s encouraging word, Louise Johnson explores the theology of Communion and the ways in which we find encouragement and community in simple elements that we have on hand.
Prepare for Maundy Thursday by Baking Bread
On Maundy Thursday we remember Jesus’ last meal by sharing Communion as a community. In this season, since we are not able to celebrate with Communion in person, we invite you to do the next best thing: prepare a loaf of bread (or some other baked item) at home. Click here for more information and a blessing you can use with your family as you bake your bread. And, of course, join us for worship on Thursday at 7:30p on Facebook Live.
Walk Our Outdoor Labyrinth
Looking for something to do outside? Come check out the new outdoor labyrinth in the graveyard between the Meetinghouse and the Chapel building this Lenten season (of course only if you feel well and are maintaining good social distancing of 6 feet). What is a labyrinth, you ask? They have been a part of religious traditions the world over and involve a winding path that takes us from the outer edge to the center, then back out again. Some walk a labyrinth to search for meaning. Others carry into the center a question. Still others simply walk in quiet meditation. There is no “right way” to walk a labyrinth, but a guide will be available. Walking it takes about 15 minutes. For those not visiting the labyrinth at church: you are invited to “walk” a finger labyrinth.
The Flowering Cross: A Visible Sign of Christ’s Resurrection!
The practice of putting fresh flowers on a rugged cross is based on a legend that Jesus’ cross burst into bloom at the moment of his death. PCOL’s barren cross will be put near the street outside the Meetinghouse on Holy Saturday. We invite you to drive or walk by the cross and add flowers to it. Wild flowers, purchased flowers or fresh flowers from your garden are welcome. This is the perfect activity for the young and the young at heart. Let’s make our cross bloom and proclaim in a visible way that Christ is risen!
Can You Help Out?
Are you willing to help pick up groceries or a prescription and drop them off? What about being a phone buddy for someone without access to social media? What about helping someone get set up to connect with our community online?
As various needs in our community arise, we’re looking for folks who are willing to help us meet those needs. If you are willing to help out, click here to sign up.
Praying the Breath Prayer
A clergy colleague, Carol Howard Merritt, wrote this lovely prayer that invites us to breathe in deeply, then exhale while reading or saying the words aloud. This kind of prayer is called a “breath prayer.” As you fill your lungs with life-giving air, focus on God’s ever-present goodness and love. As you exhale, rid yourself of things that need to be purged. Try it and see if it brings you peace.
