From Rev. Sarah Campbell
You who are worn out and feeling alone … Is it this long winter? Is it this long Covid? … You feel more worn out and alone than you ever have …
You who are worried about your children, your grandchildren, your students, clients, patients … children who are depressed and anxious about living in a gun-saturated neighborhood and country … and addicted to their devices and forgetting to look at the trees and the sky and the lake and the river …
You who have lost loved ones during the pandemic and yet have had no communal and cathartic rituals of mourning …
You whose beloved is changing, aging, their body weakening or their mind …
You and you and you and you …
Hear this! Hope has the last word, not despair.
We live by our stories, the stories of our family, our nation, our religion.* They shape how we see the world, how we feel the world and act in the world. They shape how we interpret our own personal stories.
May you open your heart and really hear the Easter story this year!
The “powers that be” thought they had put to death that voice that spoke the alternative truth of God. But they were wrong. We’re still spreading Jesus’s love and his hope and his revolutionary message. His body died but not his spirit.
Easter morning. Hear the story. Sing the songs. Be with your people. And let the resurrection faith rise up in you again, like the tulips and daffodils and hyacinths outside your window.
In Christ,
Sarah
*The central stories of Christianity—creation, exile, exodus, birth, resurrection….
Holy Week at Mayflower
Easter Baptisms
If you have a child you want to have baptized, please reach out to Rev. Christian (cbriones@mayflowermpls.org) or Bree Mckee Milller (bmckee-miller@mayflowermpls.org) for more information. Baptisms will be taking place during Holy Week.
The last week of Jesus’ life is a week of extraordinary importance for Christians.
Starting with Palm/Passion Sunday and ending with Easter Sunday, it is the most sacred time of the Christian year. What is the story of Holy Week? Who is telling the story? How is it being told? And what does the story have to do with us, in these times anyway?
Palm/Passion Sunday
The story begins on Palm/Passion Sunday (April 2) at 8:30 and 11 am worship with Jesus entering Jerusalem to the accolades of his followers. He represents hope, the possibility of change and newness, the transformation of all forms of tyranny into a human community based on justice and love. On Palm Sunday, we enact the joyful processional and then hear the story of Jesus’ arrest and trials, in which the hopes of his followers are dashed by the powers-that-be.
Maundy Thursday
On Maundy Thursday (April 6) at 6 pm we gather with questions, singing and feasting as we revisit the last supper, and learn about the traditions and stories that informed Jesus’ life. We will conclude with communion. This is very family friendly service. Come hungry!
Sorrowful Friday
On Sorrowful Friday (April 7) at 8 pm we gather for choral music and readings. Candles are extinguished until the Sanctuary is dramatically plunged into darkness.
Holy Saturday
On Holy Saturday (April 8) at 6 pm we gather for our Easter Vigil Service. Following Jesus crucifixion, Jesus followers were left devastated and abandoned and were forced to sit in their hopelessness brought on by Jesus death. Have you ever experienced having to sit in the limbo between hopelessness and hope? Come experience our Holy Saturday service where we will reflect and present be present to the aftermath of having our worlds turned upside down the most unforseen circumstances. In keeping with the ancient tradition, we also will have the Rite of Baptism.
Easter Sunday
Finally, at our Sunday morning services on April 9, at 8:30 and 11 am, the Festival of the Resurrection celebrates the rebirth of hope, and the life-giving power of God, with the proclamation that Christ is risen and “love is stronger than death”. Mayflower Choirs will be at both services.
Come. Be a part of the story. Bring your children. Bring your friends and experience. Deep is the hunger of our souls for a story that tells the truth.
