Holy Week Dates for 2019:
Palm Sunday, April 5
Maundy Thursday April 9
Good Friday, April 10
Easter Sunday April 12
Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ begins the celebration of Holy Week with a very special Palm Sunday service culminating in a beautiful celebration of Easter and the risen Christ followed by a fun Easter egg hunt for all ages. You and your family are invited to join us for any and all of the Holy Week activities.
Palm Sunday - April 9 at 10:00 AM
We will gather at the Front entrance of the church and in the Narthex for a congregational procession into the sanctuary with palms waving! Director of Music, Owen Hofmann-Smith has prepared a processional song for all ages. Beth Astarte will offer a dramatization of the first Palm Sunday with a “character from the crowd.” Worship will conclude with the building and procession of the cross (made from the trunks of our Christmas trees).
Maundy Thursday - April 13 at 7:30 PM
The Maundy Thursday worship service draws its purpose and themes from historical events that our Christian tradition believed happened on the Thursday before Easter. It is a reenactment of the Last Supper. “Maundy” is the English form of the Latin word meaning commandment. Jesus’ new commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you”, is the focus of Maundy Thursday.
Good Friday “Walk of the Cross” - April 14 at 10:00 AM
Bethel will once again serve as the gathering place for the Walk. The Walk is a one mile pilgrimage through downtown Beaverton, with stops at several different “stations”. Each station examines a different aspect of Life, Peace and Justice through Scripture, personal witness and prayer. Representatives from various churches will lead us to each station. Walking between the stations, participants will carry a large cross to remind them of the cross that Jesus carried over 2000 years ago and which is still being carried today. The Walk of the cross is a great way to identify with Jesus’ historic walk, to consider the “crosses” of social justice to which Christ continues to call us, and to sing and pray with sisters and brothers from various Christian traditions.