The heart of the Christian faith is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The events we commemorate during Holy Week are the central pieces of our faith
and the most significant week of the year for Christian worship.
We invite you to join us as we remember these events through prayer and worship.
Our worship will begin the Joyful welcome of Jesus into Jerusalem. We will share scripture and process into the worship space with song. However, Joy quickly fades and the sadness of the passion story takes center place in the remaining worship. For the 9:00am service, the passion of Jesus is adapted as a reader’s theater presentation.
Maundy is Latin for “commandment”. Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another” (John 13.34). According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it is also the night that Jesus shares a passover meal with his disciples and transforms it into the gift that we call Holy Communion. Finally, it is the night in which Jesus was betrayed. When he is arrested our hope is stripped and our worship space is laid bare. Our worship will encompass all these aspects of the experience of the disciples. Quite rightly, it is almost too much to bear.
There is nothing good about it on the day—only in the hindsight of the resurrection do we call it “good”. From noon to 3p, when Jesus hung from the cross, the church will be open for meditation and prayer. A display of the stations of the cross will be available for you to observe, read, pray through. In the evening, our worship will dwell on the death of Jesus and the centrality of the cross for our faith.
Be a part of an ancient tradition reinterpreted for today. Rather than an all-night vigil, we will limit our dwelling in the word to around 75 minutes, starting with a new fire (think campfire) in the courtyard and concluding with an anticipation of the Easter sunrise with communion.
Death is undone. Judgment is dismissed. Meaninglessness gives way to hope. Jesus is alive! And God’s Yes! to life and love and living together in harmony has begun. Put on your Easter best: Joyful smiles and faithful hearts; let’s celebrate together God’s new day.
6:30am Sunrise Beach Service
(just north of the Ventura Pier near Crowne Plaza)
9:00am Contemporary Easter Celebration Service
10:00am Egg Hunt on the Lawn
11:00am Traditional Easter Celebration Service