Holy Week
Worship at noon in the chapel and 7 p.m. in the nave. Foot-washing, Holy Communion and the Stripping of the Altar bring us into the midst of Jesus’s last days.
7 a.m.Stations of the Cross – we walk, pray and sing our way around the Grace Campus marking the traditional 14 “stations” of Jesus’ Passion. A beautiful and solemn way to begin this Holy Day.
Noon – Good Friday Community Service, hosted by Otterbein United Methodist (corner of N. Queen and Clay Sts). Pastor V will be preaching one of the 7 meditations on the Seven Last Words of Christ.
7 p.m – The reading of the Passion of St. John and Adoration of the Cross, choral music, and prayer.
6 pm…start in the parsonage yard with a small bonfire and lighting the new paschal (resurrection) Candle…the first proclamation of Easter for the new season, epic readings from the Jewish Scriptures, music, all moving us toward the celebration of Holy Baptism!
Worship at 8 & 10:30
At both the 8:00 & 10:30 a.m. services, our choirs and brass adorn this festive celebration of the heart of Christian hope and faith.
An Easter breakfast will be offered between services in the Nolt Auditorium. We are providing beverages. Please bring fruit, breakfast pastries, or a breakfast casserole to share. If you have any questions please contact Molly Rowen at yoohoomollysue@yahoo.com
Announcements
Easter Fountain Flowers
If you are interested in decorating the fountain during Eastertide please contact Angie. Opportunities to share plants and flowers for the fountain will be available beginning Sunday, April 23 and continuing through May 28.
Families may buy plants and flowers to decorate the Fountain on the Sunday they choose, delivering them to church on Saturday and following Sunday services, take their plants home.
Please contact Angie with questions or to sign up.
Easter Flower Pick Up
If you are not picking your Easter flowers up after the second service on Easter Sunday please contact Angie to make alternative arrangements for pick up. The church office will be closed Easter Monday. Angie is in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-4.
Little Free Library
We need books for our Little Free Library! If you have books to donate please leave them at the collection area in the Nolt Auditorium or drop them off at the church office on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9-4. You can also leave them in the Little Free Library!
Offering Envelopes
We received a phone call from our envelope supplier that there is a delay with the April envelopes…we were assured that they were shipped priority by the company and you should be receiving them shortly. In the meantime if you need your envelope number please call the church office or email Angie. If you no longer wish to receive envelopes please let Angie know. If you asked to be removed you will likely still receive envelopes through May because we had to submit the May list to the company at the beginning of March. You can also give online
Christian Formation
High School/ Young Adult Sunday School & Youth Group
Sunday School
A High School/Young Adult Sunday School class will begin on Sunday, April 16, 2023, at 9:15 AM. If you are high school or college aged, grab a snack in the Nolt Auditorium before heading to the Stafford Room, below the church office, as we gather to discuss the things that matter most.
Students currently attending confirmation class are welcome to join this class once they have been confirmed. We look forward to seeing you there!
Youth Group
Beginning Thursday, April 20, 2023, the Grace Youth Group will begin meeting in the Stafford Room on Thursday evenings from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. This group is open to all students in middle school and high school. Join us as we support one another in fellowship, worship, education, and service.
Volunteers Needed
Any adults interested in sharing their gifts of music, leadership, or professional expertise, with our youth may contact Philip Supeck at 717.725.3429 or pmsupeck@gmail.com for more details.
Tapestry of Pages
Our next book is The Library of Legends by Janie Chang. This book is set during the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. The book follows a group of college students as they flee for safety. Copies of the book are available at the Lancaster Public Library and The Free Library of Philadelphia.
On their journey both the students and the reader learn about “The Library of Legends”. We will meet on Monday May 1 at 3 p.m. on Zoom to discuss this book. If you have any questions or would like to join our group please email Angie at gracechurch517@gmail.com or call the church office.
We are taking a brake for the summer and will meet up again sometime in September to being our discussion of See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur.
Reflections Needed for the Church Year
Have you been reading the weekly reflection in the Grace News? Would you like to write a reflection? We are looking for folks who are interested in writing reflections throughout the church year with the exception of July because there is no Grace News in July.
If you are submitting something written by someone else please include the citation information (page number, publisher, author etc). If you would like to participate in this project please contact Angie at graceelcaapd@gmail.com or call the church office. If you would like a liturgical calendar please let Angie know and she will get one to you.
Weekly Reflection
As we journey through Holy Week another Lenten season ends. We are reminded of the opportunities to connect with our families, friends, and congregation, to show love to our neighbors, and to grow our faith by
studying, walking, praying, and serving
together. We consider what we gave up to better use the gifts we have received and to make room for God to introduce new
spiritual habits in our lives. Habits like mindfulness, surrender, generosity,
meditation, prayer, and the daily reading of scripture. 1 Peter 4:10 tells us, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” Habits, by
definition, are regular tendencies or practices that are especially hard to give up. The
spiritual habits developed this Lenten
season are gifts not intended to be packed away after the celebration of Easter. They are designed for long lasting use, through the passing of ordinary time, as we love, live, worship, and serve together.
Holy Week Prayer
May the palms we wave, and the cross
Phil Supeck
toward which You travel, elevate our hearts for lives of love, and animate our hands to lives of service. Amen.
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