Sunday, April 9: Palm Sunday
8:30 am: Worship with the Lord’s Supper
9:45 am: Regular Sunday School
10:45 am: Donkey Processional (Front Lawn)
11:00 am: Palm/Passion Sunday worship. Music: The Palms by Jean-Baptiste Faure (during Procession of the Palms); Offertory: Let This Mind Be in You by Austin B. Lovelace
12:15 pm: Kids and Family Spring Festival, Front Lawn: Giant games, catered food by “Hamburger Man,” Music, dying Easter Eggs
Lenten Lunches and Lectures
Monday thru Wednesday, we will continue our tradition of Lenten Lunches, hosted in the Main Sanctuary Narthex, noon to 1:00 pm. A member of St. Stephen’s staff will do a presentation each day, and lunch will be served.
Ridglea and St. Stephen are doing Passion Week events together this year. Our staff, joint choirs, and officers will lead worship as our to congregations come together as one. Each will host one service.
April 12: Holy Week Children’s & Family Service
5:15 pm, Main Sanctuary, followed by Supper on the Lawn at 6:00 pm: This service uses puppets and other kid-friendly means to help children understand the meaning of Holy Week and Easter. It is built around the Lord’s Supper. It serves as a way to educate young children about the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. In our tradition, children may receive communion when the parents believe they are ready, and so this creates an opportunity for them to understand the Lord’s Supper in context and to participate with understanding.
April 13: Maundy Thursday
Noon Maundy Thursday Service at St. Stephen: This is a short liturgical service with Communion in the West Transept for friends and neighbors and for those who cannot come to evening services. It is followed by lunch in the Narthex.
5:30 Dinner at Ridglea, 6201 Camp Bowie Blvd., 76116
6:30 Maundy Thursday at Ridglea, 6201 Camp Bowie Blvd., 76116
April 14: Good Friday
12:15 pm Good Friday Service in St. Stephen’s main sanctuary
1:00 pm Lunch in the St. Stephen Narthex
6:00 Paschal Vigil
Our annual Paschal Vigil this year starts with the Lord’s Supper at 6:00 pm Friday and is completed with a Paschal Feast at 8:30 pm Saturday. Here’s the schedule:
6:00 p.m. “Light” – Peggy Harwood, worship leader; Dr. Fritz Ritsch, homily; Lord’s Supper
9:00 p.m. “Tenebrae” – Bill Larmour, worship leader
Midnight “Vigil” – Wendy Larmour, worship leader
Saturday, April 15: Paschal Vigil Continues
8:00 a.m. “Dawning” – Dian McCall, worship leader
2:00 p.m. “Commendation” – Kurt Anderson, worship leader; Peggy Harwood, worship assistant
6:00 p.m.* “Resignation” – Carol Stalcup, worship leader – Garden labyrinth
8:30 p.m. “Holy Fire” – Laurie Sandefur, worship leader, Max Courtney, worship assistant
Following “Holy Fire” – Paschal processional and Paschal feast (Narthex)
Sunday Morning, Easter Day
8:30 am Worship with the Lord’s Supper
9:45 am Regular Sunday School
10:30 am Easter Egg Hunt–on the lawn if the weather is good; in sanctuary and upper basement of the main building otherwise
11:00 am Easter Festal Worship with the Lord’s Supper and Brass. Anthem:Hallelujah from Christ on the Mount of Olives, Op. 85, Ludwig van Beethoven;Offertory Anthem: Christ our Passover, Richard Wayne Dirksen