April 2021 Easter Vineyard

The
Vineyard Press
ST. MARK’S LUTHERAN CHURCH
Sharing Christ’s Abundant Love
“I am the vine, you are the branches. “ (John 15:5)
APRIL 2021, VOL 21, ISSUE 3
Welcome to Holy Week at St. Mark’s
Take the journey
An invitation from our pastors
This year, more than ever, we all need hope! Pastor Charisse and Pastor Patrick invite us to
experience the Holy Week journey in a new way. To fully enter into the story that moves us from
loss and grief to hope. To reflect on our own journey during this COVID-filled year. To take the
walk with Jesus to the cross.
St. Mark’s is offering a range of virtual services, including Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and
Good Friday, plus a new Saturday Easter Vigil that will be held outside and in-person! It will be a
special service of fire and light, knowing that the light of Jesus never goes out, that he will rise.
Then, for Resurrection Sunday, we have created a joyful Easter worship video that you can watch
when it’s convenient for you and your family. Jesus’ story is not done; join us in that joyful hope!
LIVESTREAMING: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday
OUTSIDE & IN-PERSON: Saturday Easter Vigil
VIDEO: Easter Sunday
Visit our EASTER web page: StMarksAurora.net/EASTER

Holy Week services
PALM SUNDAY
Get those palms waving and get
ready for Jesus’ triumphant arrival
into Jerusalem! This year, our focus is
on Jesus’ counter-procession. On the
other side of the city, Roman officials
were arriving to show their military
might. Jesus, on the other hand,
arrived on the back of a donkey, with
people waving palms and shouting
“Hosanna.”
On Palm Sunday we dwell in Luke’s
telling of Jesus’ entrance into
Jerusalem and its significance for
our lives. The service ends with a
movement and entrance into Holy
Week.
MAUNDY THURSDAY
Maundy derives from the Latin
word mandatum, which means
“commandment.” On the night before
Jesus’ death, Jesus gathered his twelve
disciples in the upper room to share
his last meal with them. During that
meal, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet,
instructed and invited them to Holy
Supper, and gave them—and us—a
new commandment: to love as Jesus
has loved us. By our love, the world
will know we belong to Jesus.
On Maundy Thursday, we remember
Jesus’ words at the Last Supper.
We focus on Jesus’ teachings and
invitation to the Table. We close the
service with a stripping of the altar as
we prepare ourselves for the betrayal,
arrest, and crucifixion of Jesus.
PALM SUNDAY
March 28
10 a.m.
Livestreaming
on St. Mark’s YouTube
channel
MAUNDY THURSDAY
April 1
7 p.m.
Livestreaming
on St. Mark’s YouTube
channel
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Holy Week services
New this year!
Outside and
in-person.
GOOD FRIDAY
What an ironic name for the worst
day in human history. How could
we possibly call the day Christ was
killed “good”? It’s certainly not “good”
because of anything humanity did. As
we remember the death of our Lord
Jesus on Good Friday, we know it is
good because we know what Jesus will
do in three days.
We observe the solemnity of the
day through the ancient service of
Tenebrae, which derives from the
Latin word for candles. We dwell at
the cross with readings and music,
and candlelight casts shadows on the
cross. During the service, we gradually
extinguish the candles until we are left
in total darkness, signifying the death
of Jesus.
EASTER VIGIL
We enter the vigil in darkness and
silence. The service begins with a
lighting of the new Paschal candle,
which symbolizes the new light and
new fire that is approaching. We
remember that the light of Christ rises
in glory and dispels all darkness in
our hearts and minds. We hear the
creation story, the deliverance at the
Red Sea, God’s teaching through the
prophets that God’s salvation is for
all, the deliverance of Daniel from
the fiery furnace. Throughout all of
human history, God has been bringing
people out of darkness and into light.
We end the service remembering that
we, too, are people of the light. We
are made new. We are people filled
with the fire of the Holy Spirit, ready to
proclaim the Easter proclamation.
GOOD FRIDAY
April 2
7 p.m.
Livestreaming
on St. Mark’s YouTube
channel
EASTER VIGIL
April 3
7 p.m.
Outside
in St. Mark’s
parking lot
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Easter service
MUSIC FOR HOLY WEEK & EASTER
Palm Sunday
• “Hosanna! Sing A Loud Hosanna!” by Mark Hayes
• “Ain’t No Rock Gonna Shout for Me” by Lloyd Larson
High School Vocal Quartet: Ashley Oros, Katie Ulrich,
Braydon Sefranek, Drew Rachow
• “I Need Thee Every Hour” arranged by Mark Hayes
Kristin Young, piano
EASTER SUNDAY
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Come hear
the best news. Experience the hope
that death and disease do not and will
never get the last word. Life and love
win the day. We know this. We believe
this. We witness this through the
empty grave. Humanity tried to bury
God’s grace. Humanity attempted to
destroy God’s love. This Easter, we
sing and rejoice “Alleluia” because
God’s grace and love get the last word.
Join us for an Easter celebration like
no other as we worship the Risen Lord
through bells, brass instrumentalists,
and vocalists. We are resurrection
people. Come experience the story
that changed everything—you, me
and the world—forever.
EASTER SUNDAY
April 4
10 a.m.
Video service
on St. Mark’s YouTube
channel or website
Maundy Thursday
• Adagio from Clarinet Concerto by Mozart
Kim Scharf, clarinet
• “Now Behold the Lamb”
Good Friday
Kristin Young, vocalist
• Adagio in g minor by Tomaso Albinoni
• “Nimrod” by Edward Elgars
• “The Swan” by Saint Saens
Andrea Lafranzo, cello
• “The Day the Cross Held Up the Sky” by Douglas Nolan
• “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” arranged by Joel Rainey
• “In A Borrowed Tomb” by J. Paul Williams and Patti
Drennan
Vocal Quartet: Kristin Young, Lauren Twohill, John
Themanson, Fred Krueger
• “Via Dolorosa” by Billy Sprague and Nile Borop
Easter Vigil
Kristin Young, vocalist
Cantor and Cross Bearer: David Simpson
Easter Sunday
• “Fanfare for Bells” by Mary McLeary
• “Easter Song” by Annie Herring, arranged by Kristin Young
Glory Ringers Handbell Choir: Matt Greising, Sheryl
Campen, Vicki Myen, Deb Haddad, Jill Fox, Terry
Pieart, Dotty Johnson, Lynnette Brent, Jon Miller,
Sue Hilderbrand, Kristin Young
• “Forever We Sing Hallelujah” arranged by Heather
Sorenson
High School Vocal Quartet: Ashley Oros, Katie Ulrich,
Braydon Sefranek, Drew Rachow
• “Christ is Risen/Joyful, Joyful” arranged by Matt and Adam
Podd
Virtual Choir anthem, St. Mark’s Singing Friends
• Trumpet Sonata in D by Henry Purcell
Andy Gerbitz, trumpet
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Holy Week/Easter ideas
Check your Holy Week packet
The “Holy Week at Home” packet you received in
the mail is tailored for your spiritual and communal
experience during the most important week of our
faith. It includes:
• Palm cross
On Palm Sunday we invite you
to add the cross in your packet
to your home worship space
as a tangible reminder of Jesus’
triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
A little background about
the palm cross in your packet:
These palm crosses are handmade by families in
seven mud hut villages in Tanzania, East Africa, to
supplement meager incomes. Sales help support
community projects such as agricultural and
vocational training, schools, water systems and
emergency relief.
• Holy Week/Easter brochure &
Easter sticker activity page
We want our families with children and youth
to engage in the full story of Holy Week and the
joy of the resurrection. Through graphics and
illustrations, the brochure will help bring to life
the week for our St. Mark’s youth.
• Easter offering envelope
We invite you to give a special gift in thankful
response for our Risen King.
Sponsor our Paschal candle
Each year at St. Mark’s, a family or individual sponsors
the purchase of our Paschal candle, usually as a
memorial to a loved one who has died. Over the past
fifteen months, many of us have known someone
who has died because of COVID or has suffered from
this terrible disease.
This year, we are inviting the entire congregation to
sponsor the Paschal candle in memory of those who
have either died or been affected by the pandemic. If
you’d like to contribute, you can give online or send
a check, with “Paschal candle” in the memo line, to
the St. Mark’s office
A little background about the Paschal candle:
The Paschal candle is a rich symbol of our faith, and
it reaches its pinnacle at Easter. Each year during the
Easter Vigil service on Holy Saturday night, a fire is
kindled in a metal bowl, called a brazier. From the
brazier comes a “new” and blessed fire that lights the
Paschal candle, which is carried in procession into
the dark church. The “new” fire serves as an image of
the Resurrection. The candle, which represents Christ
himself, is placed on a special Paschal-candle stand
near the altar during the Easter season, and then by
the baptismal font for the rest of the year where it is
lit at each baptism and funeral.
For more news in April . . .
Since this special Easter edition of the Vineyard
does not encompass all that is going on at St. Mark’s
during the month of April, we urge you to check your
St. Mark’s email on Fridays. We’ll be using this weekly
email to keep you up to date.
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Holy Week walk
PRAYER
WALK
How nice to get outside! We invite you to take a
prayer walk in your neighborhood each day during
Holy Week. Read the scripture, quiet your heart, and
step out. Begin by simply listening.*
PALM SUNDAY
“Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my
life.”—Psalm 143:8
As you take a prayer walk today, silently ask the Lord,
“How are you waking me up? How are you deepening
my faith? Is there an opportunity or an invitation
for me?” Then listen and wait for the Lord to bring
something to mind.
HOLY MONDAY
”Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and
everything in them.”—Psalm 69:34
As you step outside, notice signs of God’s glory and
goodness in creation. Even small things—a bird
singing, a tree budding, sunshine, a cloud moving
overhead—can declare God’s presence. As you walk,
quietly thank God for the beauty of creation.
HOLY TUESDAY
“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy
groan, I will now arise…”—Psalm 12:5
As you walk today, spend time praying for the poor,
the unemployed, refugees, prisoners, our brothers
and sisters in underserved communities and around
the globe who have been especially hit hard by the
economic impact of COVID.
HOLY WEDNESDAY
“My heart is in anguish within me…Fear and
trembling come upon me.”—Psalm 55:4
On today’s walk, pray for your neighbors. Ask God
to meet them in any anguish or “fear and trembling”
that they are facing. Act as a priest in your
neighborhood, interceding on their behalf.
MAUNDY THURSDAY
“A new commandment I give to you that you love one
another.”—John 13:34
After the Maundy Thursday service, light a candle and
take a silent prayer walk around your neighborhood,
reflecting on the service. Let the light help you
be especially present to suffering of any kind on
this night that our Lord prayed in the Garden of
Gethsemane.
GOOD FRIDAY
“If any want to become my followers, let them...take
up their cross and follow me.”—Mark 8:34
“Stations of the Cross” is an ancient devotional service
that takes us through the last hours of Christ’s life.
Walk around your house, yard, or neighborhood,
stopping in a new place to pray through each station.
(You can get a list of the stations here.)
EASTER VIGIL
“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will
put within you.”—Ezekiel 36:26
Before your prayer walk, slowly and prayerfully read
Ezekiel 36:24-28: What does this passage say about
God’s work of redemption in your life? During your
walk, give thanks to God for how the story of his
salvation has come into the world and into your life.
RESURRECTION SUNDAY
“[God] has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”—I Peter 1:3
At noon on Easter Sunday, gather everyone in your
household outside for an act of Easter joy! Grab a
noise maker for everyone—bells, pots and pans, a
kazoo, a trumpet, whatever you have. Then, at exactly
noon, ring bells, make a joyful noise, and celebrate for
60 seconds!
Resurrection Cookies
Making Resurrection cookies is
a wonderful way to share the
Easter story with your family.
Each step and ingredient
represents a part of the story,
and the hallow middle of the
cookies represents the empty
tomb. Click for the recipe.
* Adapted from “Holy Week at Home: Prayer Walk Guide” developed by The Church of the Resurrection, Wheaton, Illinois

Holy Week walk - for kids

Holy Week/Easter “reach out”
Join our “Easter invite” campaign
A chance to live out our mission
This Easter offers a unique opportunity to share Christ’s love abundantly. While we may
lament not having in-person worship yet, this Easter presents a unique opportunity:
Because we now have livestreaming, we can invite people anywhere and everywhere to join
us!
This year we are doing an Easter invite campaign and asking you to join us in getting the
word out. You can share Christ’s love by inviting people to “come and see,” to join us for
worship services during Holy Week and Easter. We know people are looking for hope.
People are looking for a church that means it when they say, “All are welcome.” And we are
ready to share the warmth and love of St. Mark’s.
We are providing you with the tools so you can easily spread the word. Choose what works
best for you and your contacts:
• FACEBOOK: Share our Holy Week & Easter Event page on Facebook. You can share
directly from the Event page to your own page by clicking on the “share” icon
or by sharing this link: https://bit.ly/31gzVmy
• EMAIL: Forward our prepared email to your friends and family. On Friday, March 21st
we sent out a stand-alone email with the subject line “An Easter invitation.” This is an
email that you can easily forward. Personalize it by adding your own message at the
top, such as “I thought you might be interested in this.”
• TEXT: Text a link to our Easter web page: http://stmarksaurora.net/EASTER. Or
simply tell people they can go to the EASTER tab on our website, StMarksAurora.net.
Let your loved ones and friends know what St. Mark’s is offering. Help bring hope to a
world in need. Help share Christ’s abundant love.
Thank you for joining us in this campaign!
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