Welcome to the week which represents the climax of the Christian year.  From Jesus Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem to an intimate supper where Jesus asks his disciples to be vulnerable enough with him and one another to wash feet, to the prayer of fear and surrender in the Garden to the pain and shame of betrayal, arrest, insult, mockery, beatings and finally death on a cross.   Three days later, God raises Jesus from death in sure and certain pledge of raising all who are found in him. Everything is here. Life, sin, love, death, life and love overcoming sin and death. This week remembers, enacts, and participates in the hope of the renewing of all creation, starting with our lives and loves, here and now. 

The life and mission of Jesus meet their fullest test. Jesus stares directly into the face of the structures of sin and the powers of death and remains true to his calling and the work of God’s kingdom. These eight days include more worship services for the whole congregation than any other time of the Christian year.

Hope, community, betrayal, trial, execution, death, burial, watching at the grave, and the disturbing or even terrifying surprise of resurrection and an empty tomb meet us through this week. And in gathering to observe them all, we open ourselves to the many ways the Holy Spirit has been active, is active, and will be active in the church and world throughout history, in our own lives, and in the lives of those who follow us in seeking to live the way of Jesus in generations to come.As United Methodists who follow in the footsteps of the Wesleys, we know the power of such ritual in gathered community through this week will take deeper root in our own lives if we also practice the means of grace of family and private prayer. That is why our series of resources for Holy Week also includes guidance for ways to observe family or private prayer using the lectionary readings for each day, Monday through Wednesday.

And throughout this Holy Week, we are following up specifically on our Lenten theme of Rehab in a particular way. Rehab in nearly every form is about helping us get in touch with our bodies either more deeply or to restore our touch with our bodies after a crisis has severed or seriously impaired the connection. As Christians baptized into the apostolic faith, we affirm “resurrection of flesh,” to translate the Greek of the Apostles Creed most directly. This is a radically incarnational affirmation of the goodness of creation and the ways our bodies are mediators of divine grace and truth to ourselves and others, just as the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We await the fulness of what resurrection of flesh means and will mean for us all, but we have all experienced a taste of it already through the Lenten journey of spiritual Rehab we have walked together. And we will experience it even more as we continue that journey through the week now before us.

If we will take it, and take it seriously, and take the journey together with the body of Christ, Christ leading the way for us.

Our Rehab so far brings us to this very point. We have gotten back in touch with our bodies, with the goodness and truth, as well as the distortions and self-deceptions, they and we are capable of. We are prepped now to walk through the most painful part of this journey with Jesus and each other, his final days of challenge, suffering, torture, pain, agony, loss, and death. When we consider what is coming, we can choose to stay in touch with all we are experiencing, individually and together, or to disconnect, shut down our feelings. Rehab has been teaching us to stay connected, to experience it all, to take it all in, be moved by it, and trust ourselves to God’s grace and each other through it.

And to do so confident that love leads the way… even through this.

The following services will be offered at our church, unless otherwise indicated:

March 25 - 10:00 a.m. Family Friendly worship at 10 with a Palm Procession.

March 29 -  7:30 p.m.  Gather in our hall for a light meal as we reflect on Jesus' Last Supper and share Holy Communion with one another.  Then we will move to the pews as the Sanctuary is stripped.

Stations of the Cross - March 30 - 3:00 p.m.
We encourage you to join with ecumenical Stations of the Cross service sponsored by the Walpole Ministerial Society.  We will start at Epiphany Church (62 Front Street) and walk with the cross through stations along Walpole Common ending at United Church (30 Common Street) and an optional walk thorough their labyrinth.

7:00 p.m. Good Friday Service at United Church

Vigil of Silence and Lament - March 31 - 11:00 a.m.
Pain, grief, anger, lament – no feeling is too strong or unpleasant for Jesus.  Come as you are and know that God is with you, for you, and working in you, even in your darkest night.

Easter Vigil - March 31 - 7:30 p.m.
 Think of this Service of the Light as akin to Christmas Eve.  We will begin in darkness by a bonfire, light the paschal candle and follow the light of Christ to our sanctuary to celebrate the miracle of new life in Christ.  This special service will be packed with special music.

April 1 - 6:15 a.m.
Sponsored by Union Congregational Church, 55 Rhodes Ave
This service will take place outside at Bird Park followed by breakfast.  All are welcome.

April 1 - 10:00 a.m.
Family friendly service of resurrection and new life in Jesus Christ.

Rehab is a word that can refer to many different things. Just a quick glance through the Wikipedia article on rehabilitation, or “rehab,” points to issues ranging from health (cognitive rehab, wildlife rehab, drug rehab, occupational rehab, physical rehab, psychiatric rehab, vision rehab, vocational rehab) to politics (restoration of disgraced politicians) to home improvement (Rehab Addict!). In general, the word rehabilitate means to restore to a condition of good health, ability to work; to restore to good condition or operation; or to restore a person’s reputation.

Similarly, the annual observance of the Lenten discipline among Christians is a time to seek restoration for our lives. It is a time to reflect, take stock of our spiritual condition, and realign our lives. Our method for taking stock is the baptismal covenant as our reference point and making good use of the means of grace as our method. We enter the season through the Ash Wednesday call “in the name of the church, to observe a holy Lent: by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word” (The United Methodist Book of Worship. Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1992, 322 from The Book of Common Prayer,1979, Public Domain). As we contemplate the method of Lent, even the spiritually mature among us become aware of how out of step we are with where we are called to be. We all have work to do.

There is much to mine from considering our Lenten journey this year within the frame of rehab, much to explore, much to learn. But the core of the learning in rehab, like the core of the learning in Lent, isn’t cognitive. It’s behavioral. In rehab, we learn how to live differently, to set a “new normal” for ourselves and our relationships after a period of time or perhaps a crisis has made it clear to us it is impossible to live as we had before. Likewise in Lent, we focus on helping those coming to faith in Christ for the first time, as well as those making their way back to Christ and the fellowship of the church after a period of absence or neglect, primarily in concrete, behavioral ways. Our goal for all who engage this period of time is that the way of Jesus becomes either the “new normal,” or, for those who have been consistent in the journey over time, is strengthened as our normal.

On each Sunday of this journey, the Scriptures provide the core guidance for the work of the week to come in our own lives and with others in midweek formation groups. We begin on Ash Wednesday by recognizing the limits placed on us by our mortality and the depths of our sinfulness, and by proclaiming God's gracious love which makes beautiful things out of dust. On Lent 1, we acknowledge we are entering a wilderness, uncharted and perhaps unchartable territory for us. On Lent 2, we become aware of the degree to which we need intervention and help beyond ourselves, and we identify how we can access it and start doing so. On Lent 3, we encounter the specifics of the kind of program that can keep us moving forward and learning this new normal, if we stick with it. On Lent 4, we address the sense of progress (and lack of progress) that comes with beginning to make some recovery. And on Lent 5, we remember with gratitude and hope the promise of healing and wholeness that awaits us as we continue to persevere, even in the face of challenging circumstances.

It is with that sense of gratitude and hope of a journey well-begun that we enter Holy Week. All of what has come before has prepared us to walk through this final leg of the journey with Christ and his church, through his suffering, execution, death, burial… and finally, after all of that, his resurrection.  
- From the Worship team of the UMC General Board of Discipleship

Passing into a new year often gives us a surge of energy.  We are more ready to do something new, more open to hear God's voice and respond.  Our worship will be focused on these themes this season. We start on January 7 remembering that God is still speaking, which prompts us to listen (January 14) move (January 21) answer (January 28) and focus our lives (February 4) and as we head into Lent we will remember again that God is still speaking (February 11).
People of all ages are welcome to join us for interactive worship at 10:00 a.m. each Sunday morning.

On December 24 we will begin the day with the Fourth Sunday of Advent at 10 a.m.  As the next day is Christmas Day, we will hold our Christmas Eve service at 4:00 p.m. - with a eye to making it easier for young families to be with us.  December 31 also falls on a Sunday.  As it will be the sixth day of Christmas, we will have a service of lessons and carols. We are ready to welcome you to join us in celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ - God at home with us.

My summer reading included Weird Church by Beth Ann Estock and Paul Nixon, as recommended by Bishop Devadhar.  One of the chapters described how a single-family household started and ended each day.  I decided to try it with my daughters and am recommending it to our congregation for the fall.

In the morning we set our intention by saying the following:
"Today I will pay attention, see Jesus, be Jesus and mess up. I can choose my attitude. I can look for an opportunity and we can find a way forward together.  We follow this with the Lord's Prayer.

In the evening review the day, either around the dinner table, or in your journal.
What did you notice when you paid attention?
How did you see Jesus?
How were you Jesus?
How did you mess up?
For what are you grateful today.

I hope that enough of us will take on this habit that we will have some very interesting things to share with one another during worship this fall.

Are you tired of the polarization in our world? 
Now is the time to experience community unity!  South Walpole United Methodist Church is hosting two back-to-back events on Sunday June 4 that are proven to create true community - eating and dancing.

Come at noon to share in a Community Pot Luck.  Bring your favorite dish and sample a variety of delicious culinary delights.  Sit beside neighbors, make new friends, become reacquainted with people you knew long ago. Everyone is welcome to gather around the table for this delicious meal. (Hint: if you don't know what to bring come anyway - there is always more than enough at a pot luck!)

If you can walk you can dance!  Dancing is a fun way for people of all ages to interact with one another.  Led by caller Tony Parkes we will dance playfully in circles and squares and lines.  It's sure to put a smile on your face and a song in your heart.  The dance will begin at 1:00 p.m.