What a great Easter Festival! We’ve experienced a spiritually forming Holy Week with many who
came to take the Lenten Journey so beautifully executed for us by the Adult Education Team, co-chaired
by Kim Rangel and Felice Ricks. We were allowed time to walk in the Passion of our Lord on Thursday
evening with the Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday service of remembering the Lord’s last Supper with
His disciples and an enactment of the stripping of the church of all adornment to remember how our Lord
stripped himself of glory to die for our sins and stand in our place on the cross.
We entertained a boisterous crowd of children and parents for the traditional egg hunt and activities
which was well planned by the Children’s Council on Saturday morning. Nathan-the-perfect, Evan-the-perfect
and Joel-the-perfect gave the morning their stamp of approval. The morning was topped off with
a healthy lunch prepared by our youth and was deemed highly successful for a first run at offering lunch
to our Easter Activities participants.
Easter Sunday really was the main event. The Easter Sunrise Service was very capably led by our
well-prepared youth. The weather was beautiful and the colors of a sunrise were evident in the eastern
sky. A heart felt thanks to Heidi Tolle, our youth director and the youth who not only led a meaningful
service, but then offered a breakfast as well.
Easter morning worship was really exciting with the brass quartet, bells, choir and inspiring music.
Thanks to Kathy Guttierrez, our music director and all the musicians. Thanks to our lay readers and all
the worship leaders for the morning.
Huge thanks to our God who made all this possible. Thanks for giving up your only Son to show us
the way to eternal life and to save us from the death of sin.
Friends, the Easter season lasts for 50 great days. May peace and joy continue to surround us as we
walk right into the 50 great days of Easter tide.
Consider the centurion in charge of guarding Golgotha at Christ’s crucifixion.
From Reliving the Passion by Walter Wangerin Jr.
“See to it, Centurion! I’ll see to it, sir. “
And so he has seen to it over the years. And now he has lingered through a truly terrifying storm, a
blackness three hours long, here on a hill, exposed to the wind’s lash, protecting…..what? Whom? Who
is this Jesus?
What was that? A loud shout! This is not at all what the centurion expects. It’s a cry that he has
heard before, to be sure….but never in defeat and never, never in death, always when the soldier has
won the battle or the king the war! This is a cry of triumph! The centurion whirls around to see Jesus, so
suddenly dead upon that battle cry of triumph…sees the central criminal with such stunning clarity, sees
as he has never seen before…and whispers with the solemn weight of a personal confession, “Truly,
this man…”
It is on Golgotha that a centurion spins around and stares at the man in the middle, just as that man
dies, exactly as Jesus gives up the ghost and slumps forward from the cross.
But all at once that centurion sees as though light burst upon his eyes, as though the veil between
bright heaven and dark earth had been torn in two from the top to the bottom. The centurion sees better
than he did and more than he ever did before: he sees God! He sees the very nature of the love of God!
The dying of one is the other one’s window and what has been veiled is now revealed, and a pagan
whispers with the solemn weight of conviction, confession, faith; “Truly, this man was the Son of God!”
Please come join us for the Maundy Thursday Communion Service at 7:00 pm this Thursday. Then we
will indeed celebrate the joy of Easter Day!
Easter Day schedule
7:00am Sunrise Service at the Corner Cross
8:00am Easter Breakfast provided by the Youth
9:15am Sunday School
10:30am Easter Celebration Worship
Please pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to come to Chapel Hill on Thursday and be present for
the 7:00 pm Maundy Thursday service in the Sanctuary. Holy Thursday is the designated day in which our
Lord gathered his disciples for a Passover meal. Our Lord acted as the host of the meal and used new
and shocking words. The disciples were used to hearing the traditional blessings of the bread and the
various cups on the table. But Jesus instituted words that we use today in remembering that He gave His
life for us on the cross and spilled His blood for us in crucifixion. This dramatic and powerful service will
cause you to look deeply into your soul and feel a nearer presence of our Lord and Savior.
The practice of stripping the church is a dramatic ritual incorporated into this beautiful service. This
ritual dates to the seventh century and is a way of showing the desolation and abandonment of the long
night in Gethsemane which Christ experienced. This desolation is symbolized by the stripping of the altar
table, and the removal of all textile hangings and candles. The purple cross drape that has been used for
the Lenten season will be replaced by the black drape as we prepare our hearts to remember the
crucifixion of our Lord on Friday.
Please remember to bring all your bells to church on Easter Sunday. During the service everyone will get to ring their bell to celebrate our Risen Lord and to
shout “Halleluiah. He is Risen Indeed!” it will be a wonderfully loud celebration
of joy.
Volunteers should come at 8:30 AM to set up and be ready for children.
There will be childcare on Wednesday evening from 6:00 PM
and on Thursday from 7:00 PM, upon request. **Please call
the office in advance, (972) 241-3491.
Our March Mentors program has come to a successful and
satisfying end! Photos and testimonials coming soon to a bulletin
board near you! My deepest heartfelt gratitude to our five
wonderfully talented and dedicated mentoring adults. What a Christlike
commitment of your time! If you were not able to be involved in
this event, don't worry! There will be a "next time"...and I know how
to find you!
Blessings to you and yours this Holy Week. I challenge you to
consider what a difference Christ's sacrifice made in the way you
dealt with life's ups and downs in the past year. What difference will
it make in how you live your life between this Easter and next?
Saturday, April 7
11:30 to 12:30
Youth "To-Go" Lunch Sales
$3
Grilled Hotdog, Lays Chips, Bottled water
OR
Mixed Greens Salad, Sun Chips, Bottled water
OR
1/2 Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Goldfish Crackers,
Juicebox
What's your special recipe? This year, in lieu of pancake breakfast, we are
inviting Easter Sunrise participants and congregants to gather in the
fellowship hall for coffee cake and coffee following the service. A couple of
our youth learned to bake coffee cake during March Mentors and are eager to
try their new skill for this event. But we need some additional contributions!
Please contact Heidi Tolle at 972-215-9602 or hjtolle@gmail.com if you are
able to provide a homemade coffee cake. You can leave it prior to Sunday
morning, if you do not plan to attend the 7 o'clock a.m. service.
This Sunday we will experience the joyous demonstration of loyalty to Jesus as he enters
Jerusalem as the suffering servant riding on a donkey instead of the noble steed of a
triumphant King. The crowds wave palm branches and lay their cloaks on the road. The
palm tree has always been a tree of honor; it marked the place where one could find
water. All the children in the processional will wave palm branches to signify the beginning
of Holy Week liturgically.
Lenten Journey
This is a series of private meditations based on the seven last words of Christ. Come to the
Sanctuary on April 3 and 4 from 10am-1pm & 4pm-8pm. You will go from the Sanctuary to the
Fellowship Hall to spend time at each of the meditation stations. Prepare your heart for the Lord to enter.
Maundy Thursday 7:00pm, April 5, 2012
On the Thursday before Passover Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room for the Passover
meal. Christians commemorate the supper Jesus shared with his disciples before his crucifixion when
Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. In remembrance of Jesus’ act of servant-hood and love, we will have
our hands washed in Thursday’s service.
The ancient practice of stripping the altar and Sanctuary following communion is a vivid and dramatic
way of showing the desolation and abandonment of the long night in Gethsemane and what followed.
Easter Sunday
Sunrise service at the meadow cross, 7:00am, Easter breakfast, 8:00am- FH
Sunday Easter Service, 10:30am Sanctuary
Jesus is raised from the dead. Christians rejoice with the proclamation, “Christ is risen!” The answering
response is, “He is risen indeed!” The annual date for Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon of
the spring equinox. This date was set at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. Today we consider every
Sunday as a little Easter. We especially celebrate Easter Sunday with a worship service of praise and
thanksgiving.
It is important not to let the celebration of Palm Sunday crowd out the observance of our Lord’s
passion. We must experience the whole story. Many will attend worship for Palm Sunday and will not
come again until Easter. Going directly from the lesser joy of the entry of Jerusalem to the joy of Easter,
without re-experiencing the passion and the cross of our Lord, misses the truth. There is no triumph
without suffering, no crown without a cross.
Come join us as we celebrate with trumpets and bells and music.
After Sunday School, all children
should meet in the conference
room to prepare to wave the palms. Parents should make sure that
their children have been to the restroom and are gathering with the
other children at 10:20 AM.
Volunteers:
We need 2 more people to help with the Easter story and we
need 3 more shepherds. Please sign up by the main office.
A note for the generous people of
Chapel Hill:
If you would like to donate something to the children’s
department, please place it inside my office or the main
office and leave a note on the item with your name and
the purpose of the donation or the person it is to go to.
If you have craft items, please talk to Kandy Burdette; if
you have current Christian books, talk to Evelyn
Womble.
We appreciate your generosity and hope that through
talking to the teachers that may use them, you will be
able to donate items they need. Thank you again to all
of the people that brought plastic eggs and candy for
the Children’s Easter Celebration.
Tuesday, April 3 &
Wednesday, April 4
two sessions each day from:
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. &
4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Fellowship Hall
Lenten Journey is a personal, spiritual and creative experience offered in a community setting.
Eight meditation centers provide an environment and instructions for a private and self-paced
meditation on the Seven Last Words of Christ. In order to maintain the sacred space
and silence of Lenten Journey, guests are welcomed and given a brief introduction to the
meditation centers.
Each of the eight meditation centers provides a different meditation experience, while each
center has instructions and materials necessary for the meditation suggested.
A simple journal is provided and instructions are given for journaling in order that guests may
better remember the graces offered them. You may bring your own journal if you wish.
Guests take as long as they like at each station. If they are unable - due to time - to complete all
eight stations, that is alright. Lenten Journey is set up for you to come and go at your
convenience.
If guests need extra time between centers, want to remain in prayer or solitude after the eight
meditations, or perhaps need to wait for a center to become available, they are invited to sit
quietly in the Sanctuary, read their Bible, or go for a walk (in the daylight).
Lenten Journey is a simple, yet deep experience for participants. All hospitality ministers and
guests are asked to maintain silence and respect the solitude of other participants.
Location: From Valley View Lane, turn on Templeton Trail south to Chapel Hill United Methodist Church and access parking at rear of church.
From LBJ Freeway,
Exit North at Marsh Lane and turn left at 1st street, Ridge Oak Way going west . Turn left at Templeton Trail and continue to Chapel Hill UMC parking space.
Exit North at Webb Chapel and turn right at Myra Lane (1st stop light). Turn right at Templeton Trail to Chapel Hill UMC parking space.
What a great Easter Festival! We’ve experienced a spiritually forming Holy Week with many who
came to take the Lenten Journey so beautifully executed for us by the Adult Education Team, co-chaired
by Kim Rangel and Felice Ricks. We were allowed time to walk in the Passion of our Lord on Thursday
evening with the Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday service of remembering the Lord’s last Supper with
His disciples and an enactment of the stripping of the church of all adornment to remember how our Lord
stripped himself of glory to die for our sins and stand in our place on the cross.
It is on Golgotha that a centurion spins around and stares at the man in the middle, just as that man
dies, exactly as Jesus gives up the ghost and slumps forward from the cross.
Please pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to come to Chapel Hill on Thursday and be present for
the 7:00 pm Maundy Thursday service in the Sanctuary. Holy Thursday is the designated day in which our
Lord gathered his disciples for a Passover meal. Our Lord acted as the host of the meal and used new
and shocking words. The disciples were used to hearing the traditional blessings of the bread and the
various cups on the table. But Jesus instituted words that we use today in remembering that He gave His
life for us on the cross and spilled His blood for us in crucifixion. This dramatic and powerful service will
cause you to look deeply into your soul and feel a nearer presence of our Lord and Savior.
Please remember to bring all your bells to church on Easter Sunday. During the service everyone will get to ring their bell to celebrate our Risen Lord and to
shout “Halleluiah. He is Risen Indeed!” it will be a wonderfully loud celebration
of joy.
Children’s Easter Celebration
What's your special recipe? This year, in lieu of pancake breakfast, we are
inviting Easter Sunrise participants and congregants to gather in the
fellowship hall for coffee cake and coffee following the service. A couple of
our youth learned to bake coffee cake during March Mentors and are eager to
try their new skill for this event. But we need some additional contributions!
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday – April 1st
Chapel Hill United Methodist Church
