ABOUT CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL
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hrist Church Cathedral serves a unique downtown ministry in the heart of Lexington. We are a people of prayer and action, eager to serve those in our community. We have programs and events for all generations. Everyone can find a place for involvement and service as we seek to extend God’s love made known in Jesus Christ. Cathedrals have presided over our landscape for more than a millennium, and they are envisioned as a meeting place of the sacred and the secular. As a sacred place in the public square, our cathedrals have a special calling to provide a place where civil conversation and common prayer inspire action. As a vital citizen of the city of Lexington, Christ Church Cathedral seeks to offer opportunity for such prayer and action. God has a dream to heal the world. Cathedrals are meant to give us a glimpse of that dream, and in so doing, to fortify and inspire us for that life-giving work.
THE MISSION OF CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL To restore all persons to unity with God and one another in Christ Jesus, through prayer, worship, proclamation of the Gospel, and the promotion of Justice, Peace and Love.
166 Market Street Lexington, Kentucky 40507 www.ccclex.org 859.254.4497
Maundy Thursday The night before Jesus dies
Good Friday Jesus dies and is buried
Easter Vigil
Jesus overcomes death
THREE SACRED DAYS, ONE ACT OF WORSHIP
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he Three Sacred Days, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil, are traditionally understood as one act of worship taking place over the course of three days. Once the service begins with the opening procession on Maundy Thursday, there is no closing benediction until the conclusion of the Easter Vigil.
This three-day journey into the heart of our faith allows space for contemplating the mystery of God’s love made known to us in Christ. Together, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus are one great saving act of God. In Hebrew, the word salvation can suggest the idea of spaciousness. God’s saving love is vast, spacious, broad and deep. The church, in its liturgical wisdom, knew that the story of our salvation, the saving act at the heart of our faith, was something so great that its meaning was most deeply experienced over time. Scripture tells us that God’s time is not our time, and so we journey through Holy Week by creating time and space to experience the richness and mystery of God’s unending grace. In the Three Sacred days, eternity and time meet as we remember the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and give thanks for a love so spacious that it opens unto us in new life beyond our imagining.
Each service offers a unique faith experience. We invite you to explore any or all of the services.
The Very Reverend Carol L. Wade † Dean and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral
Maundy Thursday March 28 7:00pm
The night before Jesus dies The night before Jesus dies, he enacts servanthood by washing the feet of his disciples, shares a meal with them, and goes to a secluded place to pray where he is then arrested. We gather to celebrate Jesus’ Last Supper with his friends. The word, Maundy, derives from the Latin word for command, mandatum. It refers to Jesus giving the new command to love, symbolized by the washing of feet. The service moves from the supper to the stripping of the altar; celebration turns to betrayal and loss as we depart in silence. Following the service, the chapel is open for silent prayer until 10:00pm, to wait with Jesus, and to engage with what it means to watch with Christ.
6 / Holy Week & Easter 2013
Good Friday March 29 12:05pm & 7:00pm
Jesus dies and is buried 12:05pm
On this most solemn and sober day of the Christian year, we remember Jesus’ death. The cross is draped in black and our space is void of sacred symbols. We gather for meditation, choral music, scripture, and prayer. Love triumphs over death, and we share in Christ’s passion as we light candles and pray for the world God so loves, both beautiful and broken. 7:00pm
At this candlelit service of meditation and chant, the altar is draped to remind us that Jesus is in the tomb and we have no actions but to watch, pray, and wait in faith for Christ’s resurrecting life breaking through the tangles of death for the healing of the world.
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Easter Vigil March 30 8:00pm
Jesus overcomes death Our watch and wait for Jesus’ return continues. The late start time of this service reminds us that the world is dark without the light of Christ. We read sacred stories –of our creation, of God’s covenant with us, of Christ’s resurrection. We celebrate the movement from death into life through the sacrament of baptism. We end in light reminding us that the Lord is Risen and Christ’s light and love should be shared with the world. Alleluia! You are invited to bring a bell to ring in celebration of the resurrection.
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FIND YOURSELF IN THE STORY Journey with us this sacred season
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he journey from Palm Sunday to Easter invites us to place ourselves in the last week of Jesus’ life. It allows us to share in the pain and ultimate joy of Jesus’ disciples. It challenges us to think about our call to love and serve the Lord. You are invited to journey with Christ, to find your place in this story, and to ultimately experience a love which is so strong that it sacrifices life, triumphs over death, and brings new, abundant life. ccclex.org / 9
Palm Sunday March 24 8:30am & 11:00am
Jesus enters Jerusalem on the way to the cross On the way to his death in Jerusalem, crowds of followers greet Jesus, and lay palms on the ground in his path and shout out in praise. We begin by reenacting this parade. Our joyful shouts of “Hosanna!” turn to cries of “crucify him!” Hosanna means save us. We know brokenness, and God’s power to save. We know of our fickleness and of God’s faithfulness. We end in silence, remembering that Jesus’ walk into Jerusalem ends in trial, crucifixion, and death. We ponder such surpassing love.
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Easter March 31 8:30am & 11:00am
Christ is risen After three days in the grave, Jesus triumphs over death into eternal life. Our worship celebrates the joy of the resurrection, as we exuberantly proclaim with all of creation – Alleluia! Alleluia! The Lord is risen indeed!
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Easter 2012
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THE GREAT FIFTY DAYS OF EASTER: Making All Things New
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he season of Eastertide encompasses the fifty days from the eve of Easter Sunday until the day of Pentecost. During this season of feasting and rejoicing, we celebrate the triumph of Christ over the power of death. Through Christ’s resurrection the world is reborn, we are reborn. It is a time to consider anew how love might triumph over the destructive patterns of our own lives. The word “resurrection” in Greek literally translates “the standing up again.” God raises up fallen creation to stand in the fullness of God’s grace. During this resurrection celebration, we hear God’s call to recommit ourselves to a way of life that is prepared to sacrifice in order that all might share in God’s abundant love. By Christ’s rising, we have the opportunity to rise again to embrace a life that is always reconciling, always making new.
14 / Holy Week & Easter 2013
WE ARE BUILDING A HABITAT HOUSE!
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he Horizons Task Force recommended that Christ Church Cathedral increase our relationships with our neighbors downtown. Taking this to heart, the Cathedral has partnered with St. Andrew’s, Second Presbyterian, First Presbyterian, and Good Shepherd to build a Habitat for Humanity house, which will be only .9 of a mile from the Cathedral. Construction will begin July 1. Everyone is invited to help! The Cathedral last built a Habitat house in 2003. Who will live in this home? Alimata Kumbaskisaka and her two children. Alimata fled her home in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to war, and now works at Toyota in housekeeping. Of the $42,500 required, Christ Church Cathedral will raise $10,000, and our church partners have pledged the remainder. The Kumbaskisaka family also has a financial and construction responsibility. Of the Habitat house, Alimata says, “…when I own my own home, I will be at peace.” How will we raise $10,000? Through a fun ride, walk or run event, called “The Ride Home,” on Saturday, May 25 on the Legacy Trail starting at Coldwater Park. Mark your calendars because it will be a day of celebration, fun, family, fellowship, grilling, music, a bounce house, and riding our bikes, trikes, walking, and running. How will it work? Anyone of any age can sign up to ride, walk, or run any distance. The entry fee for adults is $25, and children $10. We can then pledge to support our favorite riders, walkers and runners. Suppose Jane, age 4, rides her pink Big Wheel 100 feet, and her supporters pledge $1 per foot, then Jane will raise $100! Sign up to ride, walk or run by calling Rev. Brent Owens 254-4497 or email bowens@ccclex.org, or sign up at the Welcome Desk. ccclex.org / 15
Christ Church Cathedral 166 Market Street Lexington, KY 40507 859.254.4497 www.ccclex.org
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