Come, join us at Church of the Redeemer in Kenmore, Washington, for Holy Week and Easter in 2022. We welcome everyone to experience meaningful worship with us.
To protect those who have yet to vaccinate, can’t vaccinate, or are immunocompromised, masks on until it is gone. We are maintaining masking at Redeemer even though government mandates are over. Please observe social distancing.
From early times Christians have observed the week before Easter as a time of special devotion. As the pilgrim Egeria recorded in the late fourth century, Jerusalem contained many sacred places that were sites for devotion and liturgy. Numerous pilgrims to the holy city followed the path of Jesus in his last days. They formed processions, worshipped where Christ suffered and died, and venerated relics.
From this beginning evolved the rites we observe today on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. These services provide a liturgical experience of the last days of Jesus’ earthly life, as well as the time and events leading up to his resurrection.
Palm Sunday: The Sunday of the Passion, April 10
On Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, we recall Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and Jesus’ Passion on the Cross. It is also known as the Sunday of the Passion. Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week. Worship services are at 8:00 am (in-person, no music) and 10:00 am (in-person, livestreamed, music) on Sunday, April 10.
The pilgrim Egeria witnessed the observance of Palm Sunday in Jerusalem in about 381-384. During this observance there was a procession of people down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. The people waved branches of palms or olive trees as they walked. They sang psalms, including Psalm 118, and shouted the antiphon, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
The Liturgy of the Palms starts the service. After the Liturgy of the Palms, the service changes focus abruptly from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the solemnity of the Passion.
Maundy Thursday, April 14
Maundy Thursday is the Thursday in Holy Week. It is part of the Triduum, or three holy days before Easter. Worship services are at 12:00 noon (in-person, no music) and 7:00 pm (in-person, livestreamed, music) on Thursday, April 14.
The name “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum novum, “new commandment,” from John 13:34. The ceremony of washing feet was also referred to as “the Maundy.” Maundy Thursday celebrations also commemorate the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus “on the night he was betrayed.”
Egeria, a fourth-century pilgrim to Jerusalem, describes elaborate celebrations and observances in that city on Maundy Thursday. The Council of Hippo attested to the special celebration of the institution of the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday.
Read more about Maundy Thursday.
Following the evening Maundy Thursday service of Holy Communion, there will be an hour watch before the Altar of Repose at Redeemer.
Good Friday, April 15
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Day, on which the church commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a day of fasting and special acts of discipline and self-denial. Stations of the Cross is at 12:00 noon and the Good Friday worship service is at 7:00 pm on Friday, April 15.
In the early church candidates for baptism, joined by others, fasted for a day or two before the Paschal feast. In the West, the first of those days eventually acquired the character of historical reenactment of the passion and death of Christ.
Read How to support the Good Friday Offering to support the Church in the Holy Land.
The Great Vigil of Easter, April 16
The Easter Vigil is the liturgy intended as the first and, arguably, the primary celebration of Easter in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. It is also known as the Great Vigil. This important worship starts at 9:00 pm on Saturday, April 16, running 2-3 hours.
The service begins in darkness and consists of four parts:
- The Service of Light. This starts the service with the kindling of new fire and the lighting the Paschal candle.
- The Service of Lessons. This has readings from the Hebrew Scriptures interspersed with psalms, canticles, and prayers.
- Christian Initiation. This is the sacrament of Holy Baptism and/or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows by all present.
- The Eucharist. The sacrament of Christ’s body and blood, and the principal act of Christian worship. The term Eucharist is from the Greek, “thanksgiving.” Christ’s body and blood are really present in the sacrament of the Eucharist and received by faith. Christ’s presence is also known in the gathered eucharistic community.
This liturgy recovers an ancient practice of keeping the Easter feast. Believers would gather in the hours of darkness ending at dawn on Easter to hear scripture and offer prayer. This night-long service of prayerful watching anticipated the baptisms that would come at first light and the Easter Eucharist.
Read more about the Easter Vigil.
Easter Day, April 17
Easter is the feast of Christ’s resurrection. Worship services are at 8:00 am (in-person, no music) and 10:00 am (in-person, livestreamed, music) on Sunday, April 17.
Easter Day is the annual feast of the resurrection, the Pascha or Christian Passover, and the eighth day of cosmic creation. Faith in Jesus’ resurrection on the Sunday, or third day following his crucifixion, is at the heart of Christian belief.
Easter Day starts the Easter Season, the Great 50 Days. It lasts until the Feast of Pentecost, celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit. During the Easter season there is no fasting.
Worship at Redeemer
If you have never been to an Episcopal Church before, you may have some questions on worship. While this page is geared towards worship on Sunday, it will give you a good idea on what to expect during Holy Week and Easter at Redeemer.
Church of the Redeemer
Welcome to Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.
Church of the Redeemer is at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. We are a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.
The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
