Weaving Togeter the Beloved Community - Easter Vigils

“Lent is that time when we ask ourselves how we can draw closer to and deeper with God. I pray that these extra services along with the Easter Vigil will be meaningful for you.”

I so miss all the extra services, planning, and spirituality that went into Lent. My boyhood pastor was someone who did so much wonderful planning for these special services and made them something my whole family remembers. Being the brat I was, I had convinced one of my best friends that I was going to use one of those special services to talk about how goofy she thought I was. I was just enough of a brat that she thought that is exactly what I might do until I went another direction.

My favorite for Lent was the Easter Vigil. I would always pick two times, back to back, that would have me walk into the church chapel when there was still daylight and walk back out into my hometown when it was pitch black. Just that transformation made it feel holy and sacred and meaningful to me.

So as churches have done away with special services and Easter Vigils, I have mourned that quite a bit. An important part of my devotion and faith just ended up absent.

In most of the churches I have served, I have tried to keep the Easter Vigil alive. I’ve added playlists for a musical feel for each day from Maundy Thursday to Easter Day. I would lug my whole spirituality library into a dedicated space. I would provide votives and the ability to turn on or off lights for reading and meditation. I also put together a devotional handout where people could walk their way through a simple worship. Sometimes I would even find a finger labyrinth to include.

Lent is that time when we ask ourselves how we can draw closer to and deeper with God. I pray that these extra services along with the Easter Vigil will be meaningful for you.

We are offering potential times when you might attend to the Easter Vigil in 15-minute increments. Feel free to sign up for more than one slot and even visit other churches to participate. This year we will work with Riverview Park Christian Church, St. Joseph; Zion UCC, Baroda; and Pilgrim Congregational UCC, St. Joseph.