During Holy Week, the building in which we worship will become the court of Pilate, the Temple Pavement, the Gate to the City, the Upper Room, Gethsemane’s garden, the Place of the Skull, the borrowed but empty tomb, and the lonely room where anxious disciples wait to hear the word of Jesus’ resurrection.

You are invited to experience Holy Week at the Chapel:
•    April 17 – Palm/Passion Sunday with procession of palms;
•    April 21 – Maundy Thursday worship at 7 p.m. with Holy Communion and footwashing;
•    April 22 – Good Friday service at noon followed by meditation on the Way of the Cross;
•    April 23 – Easter Vigil at 8 p.m.;
•    April 24 – The festival of the Resurrection of our Lord, 10 a.m. (Pre-service music at 9:45 a.m.)

In addition, for Morning Prayer April 18-21 there will be a special service with daily reflections by Kat Borchers, Laura Ehlen, Sarah Peters, and Dr. George Heider. The theme is “Living in the Presence of God, Come What May.” Morning Prayer begins at 11:15 a.m. and lasts 20 minutes.

What’s Maundy Thursday all about?
At the Chapel, our liturgy on Maundy Thursday, April 21st, ushers us into the Great Three Days or “Triduum” at the center and heart of the Christian year and the Christian faith.  Our service on this night is made of three distinct liturgies. In the Service of Reconciliation, we complete the Lenten journey begun on Ash Wednesday when ashes were pressed upon us with the words “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”  The second liturgy of this night is the Service of the Word and Sacrament, in which we participate with Jesus’ disciples in that Last Passover he shared with them. In doing so we discover anew the roots of our Holy Communion in “that night in which he was betrayed.” During this time, you may join in the practice of footwashing in the chancel. It is an opportunity to be reminded of our Lord’s invitation to love and serve one another as he continues to serve us in his love. The third and final liturgy of our service, the Stripping of the Altar, brings us to Good Friday, as the altar and chancel are stripped of all ornament.  After a brief prayer, the one remaining light of the Paschal Candle is carried out of the chapel.  No candles will burn in the chapel until the new flame is kindled at the beginning of the Great Vigil on the Eve of Easter. Maundy Thursday worship begins at 7 p.m.

The Way of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross or, as we’re calling it at the Chapel, the Way of the Cross, is a form of reflection on the suffering of Jesus on the road to the cross. This year, following our noon Good Friday service April 22nd, artists, writers and musicians will be interpreting 10 of these stations during an extended time of meditation and prayer. Faculty and student organists will be playing Marcel Dupre’s “The Way of the Cross” from the gallery, while student and faculty artists and writers interpret each station on the main floor. This time of reflection will begin immediately following the noon service. You are invited to come for the entire time or come for any part of this extended Good Friday prayer.

Have you experienced Easter Vigil?
Easter Vigil at the Chapel is one of the lesser-known services in Holy Week, but one full of meaning and new beginnings. Held on the evening before Easter, the service has four distinct liturgies. In the Service of Light, a new flame is kindled and spreads through the congregation, symbolic of the new light of the risen Christ. The Service of Readings is filled with stories of deliverance. After this, we welcome Joey Teeple into our community through the Rite of Baptism and Renewal. Finally, we join in the jubilant first Eucharist of the resurrection. This service begins at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 23.