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| For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all. |
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| Titus 2:11 |
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| The season of Advent |
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The Christian Calendar year begins with the season of Advent, which starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day and ends on Christmas Eve. It is a season of preparation and hope, and the time when we prepare our homes and our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ, our promised savior.
Choral Advent Presentation
All of the choirs in the Music Ministry of First Church come together to put on a special performance the beginning of the Advent season, usually the second Sunday of Advent.
Children’s Christmas Pageant
The children of First Church dress in costumes and perform a special Christmas production in the sanctuary at the Late Service, usually the third Sunday of Advent. The congregation is invited to participate by bringing gifts for needy children and placing them under the sanctuary Christmas tree. These gifts are then donated to local charities.
Service of Solace
This special service is held in the chapel at 6:30 p.m. the Wednesday before Christmas to offer comfort and hope to those worshipers who may be feeling lost or alone during the holiday season.
Christmas Eve Celebration Service
We celebrate Christmas Eve with a festive and meaningful worship service starting at 7 p.m. , including Scriptures, carols, prayers, and a special Christmas sermon. Everyone is invited to bring a bell to ring and join the clergy and choirs in the opening processional through the sanctuary. Children really enjoy this service, and are encouraged to attend.
Candlelight Communion Service
This is more traditional, liturgical, candlelight
service starting at 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve. This beautiful
communion service has become an annual favorite for those in
attendance. |
| The Season of Lent |
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Lent is the period in the Christian year starting 40 days (not including Sundays) before Easter, which calls the church to prepare to celebrate God’s marvelous redemption at Easter, and the resurrected life that we all live and hope for as Christians. It is a time for growing in our faith through repentance, community, prayer, and fasting.
Ash Wednesday Service
Ash Wednesday, seven Wednesdays before Easter, is typically known as the first day of the Lenten Season. The Ash Wednesday Service is held at 6:30 p.m. in the sanctuary, and includes Holy Communion and the “imposition of ashes.” This is when the pastor marks a cross on worshiper’s foreheads with ashes, and then reminds us that, “You are dust and unto dust you shall return.”
Palm/Passion Sunday
On the sixth Sunday in Lent, our Late Service worship takes the form of an intergenerational passion play. The play starts with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem , and then offers us a glimpse of Christ’s last days with his Disciples before he was crucified.
Healing Service
As the Body of Christ, we are called to provide comfort and love to those who are suffering. Suffering may be physical, emotional, or spiritual. We offer a Healing Service at 6:30 p.m. on the Wednesday before Easter. Worshipers may come seeking healing for themselves, friends or other loved ones. We do not seek to replace or interfere with sound scientific/medical aid and treatment, but to work in concert with it.
Maundy Thursday
The Maundy Thursday communion service is held in the sanctuary at 7 p.m. the Thursday before Easter. As part of the service, lay members of First Church symbolically wash worshipers hands before they are served communion. This is to illustrate the humility and spirit of servanthood that Jesus taught his Disciples as they ate their final meal together before Jesus’ arrest.
Good Friday Service
On the Friday of Holy Week, the church commemorates Jesus’ arrest, trial, suffering, crucifixion, death and burial. This service, held at noon in West Vestry, is a series of readings and hymns based on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. It concludes with a time of quiet reflection, and the opportunity to come forward to remember your Baptism, understanding this as our means to symbolize our participation in Christ’s death and resurrection to a new life.
Tenebrae Service
This “Service of Darkness” is led by the First Church Youth at 7 p.m. on Good Friday, the Friday before Easter. It includes Scripture readings and meditations done in stages while candles are gradually extinguished, symbolizing the growing darkness, not only of Jesus’ death, but also the hopelessness in the world without God. The service ends in darkness, with the final candle, the Christ candle, being carried out of the sanctuary, symbolizing the death of Jesus. The worshippers then leave in silence to wait.
EASTER
We offer three different worship services on this one special Sunday of the year.
Sunrise Service
Celebrate the risen Christ at the 7:30 a.m. Sunrise Communion Service on Easter morning at First Church . Starting outside on the front stairs, worshipers gather to hear Scripture read and then sing praises of Christ’s resurrection. The service continues with everyone processing into the sanctuary, carrying the elements to redecorate the stripped altar. A continental breakfast is served downstairs following this service.
Communion Service
The pastor shares the beautiful message of Christ’s resurrection at this Easter morning Communion Service at 8:30 a.m. in West Vestry. Worshipers are invited to share in a special fellowship time following this service.
Celebration Service
Our traditional Easter Service at 10:45 a.m. is celebrated with festive vocal and handbell music, and the preaching of the good news of Christ’s resurrection. Then at the end of the service everyone is invited to join the choir in the great First Church tradition of singing the Hallelujah Chorus. |
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