First Lutheran Church announces Holy Week services
This flower-bedecked cross that stood vigil overnight in 2024 greeted worshipers on Easter morning as they entered the Sanctuary of First Lutheran Church, 1701 19th St., Parkersburg. The cross will be decorated again this year on Saturday night following the Easter Vigil service at 7 p.m. (Photo Provided)
First Lutheran Church will have the 鈥淪tations of the Cross鈥� posted along the walkways adjacent to the church from Palm Sunday to Easter. (Photo Provided)
This flower-bedecked cross that stood vigil overnight in 2024 greeted worshipers on Easter morning as they entered the Sanctuary of First Lutheran Church, 1701 19th St., Parkersburg. The cross will be decorated again this year on Saturday night following the Easter Vigil service at 7 p.m. (Photo Provided)
First Lutheran Church will have the 鈥淪tations of the Cross鈥� posted along the walkways adjacent to the church from Palm Sunday to Easter. (Photo Provided)
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PARKERSBURG -- Holy Week services at First Lutheran Church, 1701 19th St., will begin this Sunday, Palm Sunday.
The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem will be celebrated with the worship service at 8:30 a.m., Sunday School at 9:40 a.m. and traditional worship at 10:45 a.m. Palms will be distributed to everyone attending.
Holy Week will continue with Maundy Thursday services at noon and 7 p.m. Thursday. Holy Communion will be celebrated at both services.
Good Friday evening Tenebrae service will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, with the confirmation class assisting. Worshippers will have the opportunity to nail their confessions or requests to the wooden cross in the sanctuary.
The Vigil of Easter service will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 19. Assisting First Lutheran Pastor Reid Pastor Thomas Darr of Christ Lutheran Church in Vienna.
As is tradition, following the Saturday Vigil the wooden cross in front of the church at the entrance to the sanctuary will be decorated with flowers. Vigil attendees are encouraged to bring fresh flowers and help with the decorating of the cross. The flower-bedecked cross will stand in front of the church greeting worshipers on Easter morning.
Easter morning breakfast will be served beginning at 8:30 a.m. The breakfast is open to everyone. Donations will be accepted and will go to support summer Camp Luther scholarships.
The traditional Easter Sunday Celebration worship service April 20 will be a combined service beginning at 10 a.m. (There will be no 8:30 a.m. service or Sunday School.) It will include the traditional procession of the paraments as they are returned to the altar. Special music presentations will include the Festival Choir and many instrumentalists.
The sanctuary will be decorated with greenery and Easter lilies and tulips, given as memorials for past members and to celebrate the risen Lord and the release from the barren 40 days of Lent.
The church also invites people to walk the 14 Stations of the Cross displayed around the walkways of the church. Visitors can take their time, stop, reflect and pray as they make their way through the path depicting Jesus' walk.
Reid said the "Stations of the Cross" walk, also known as the "Way of Sorrows," includes a series of images depicting the events along the path Jesus walked to his crucifixion. The stations begin at the walkway leading from the parking lot up to the church entrance. They will be posted from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday.
At 10 a.m. Friday, Reid will do an in-person walk and talk through the stations, incorporating some of his personal experiences from his visit to the Holy Land.
More information is available by calling the church office at 304-428-6174. There is ample parking adjacent to the church. First Lutheran is handicap accessible and has the hearing LOOP system in the Sanctuary for those needing hearing assistance.