Holy Week Was Quite the Week!

Even though I had experienced the craziness of Holy Week, while serving churches as a pastoral intern the past three years, I have to say that this year with my new responsiblities I experienced it on a whole new magnitude of activity, preparation and tiredness.

At FBC Gaithersburg, we relived the special week of Jesus' life beginning on Palm Sunday. It was quite the day of joy for us-- we waved palm branches in worship, began to dream about what life might be like when Lent was over in worship, shared a fellowship meal together led by our deacons (see how crowded the social hall was in the picture above and see how happy I was to have the support of the deacons who support this event such as Angelique-- her and I are seen to the right), and the kiddos even hunted for Easter eggs afterwards.

Our special night services began with Maundy Thursday. It was a time when we shared communion together, heard a great Latin piece from the choir and remembered the night when Jesus experienced the ultimate betrayal. For me, the special part about this worship service was serving communion. Instead of doing the Baptist standard "picnic style" where the deacons pass the plates, each member of the community came to the front where Charlie and I were standing. They took a piece of bread from my plate and dipped it into the cup.

It was a holy moment for as I had the revelation of "Wow, I'm really a pastor to these people" as I remembered more names of congregation members than I had previously. I gave as many people (if I could be 100% of remembering their names) a blessing while I served them the bread. See the photo of Lonnie, Charlie and I serving each other communion to the left.

Our Good Friday Service was especially depressing, but I believe this is exactly the point. The worship order for this night involved the three pastors doing several rounds of reader's theater with each station of the cross, singing a hymn acapella between each.

The most humorous part for me in the whole experience was trying not to laugh at my own singing. None of the congregation members knew ahead of time what we were singing and didn't have the words in front of them. Lonnie, our worship pastor was the only one with a hymn book. He assured Charlie and I that we of course knew all the words to the hymns we would sing such as "What Wondrous Love Is This?" "There Is A Fountain" and "Old Rugged Cross." I believed him, because I have been in church for most of my life. But, under the pressure (when it felt like just Lonnie and I were singing and the tone of our voices seemed to REALLY matter) I couldn't quite keep it together. If we do this service again next year, I'm totally bringing my own hymnal.

Saturday night's service was unlike anyone I'd ever been a part of. Baptists traditionally don't have Easter Vigils. But, because Lonnie's doctoral studies asked him to try a new type of worship experience for our congregation, we had one this year. (And it was awesome, in my humble opinion!)

The service probably would have been more fun if it hadn't been SO cold (what is up with it snowing the day before Easter?) We began by gathering outside of the building in the memorial garden around a fire pit. After a series of readings, we lit the Christ candle and processed into the sanctuary with the light. After a series of readings both about Old Testament imagery of light and one from Exodus about the Passover, I gave a short homily. In keeping with my tradition of occasionally busting out in song during a sermon, I used a chorus of an Andrew Peterson song to frame the storytelling I did. I was pleasantly surprised that no one gave me those "We're not doing this" blank stares when I asked them to learn the chorus and sing along with me. I felt good that Lonnie said he was impressed that I carried such an activity off.

The night concluded with a service of remembering our baptisms. Using water brought back from a church member from the Jordan River (!), each of the pastors placed the sign of the cross on congregants foreheads and asked them to remember their baptism and be thankful. The water from the Holy Land made the event especially moving for us.

Easter came and boy, I was tired and didn't know if I would make it through another big service. But, the excitement of Easter morning pulled me out of bed and to church once again. I was especially motivated by the fact that I had Easter evening OFF from church.

Thank goodness for Easter Monday (meaning the church office was closed)!