Incredulity of St. Thomas, Caravaggio (1602)
This second Sunday of Easter we join congregations from throughout the NW Washington Synod, along with Synod Staff, in worship. Pastor Andy Yee, assistant to the bishop, is the preacher, with musical and other contributions from across the synod.
You can find the service on our YouTube Channel beginning @ 10:30am Sunday.
A PDF copy of the Service Guide can be downloaded here: Easter 2B 2021 4.11.21 livestream bulletin
Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that–pierced–died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping, transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.
– Seven Stanzas at Easter (excerpt), John Updike[1]
Dear Easter People,
Christ is risen, Alleluia! I often experience a “spring” in my step when walking on this side of Easter. Though our journey from a Lenten to an Easter sensibility may proceed more slowly due to the pandemic that still holds sway over much of the world, we are, nonetheless, called to live as Easter people; called to embody resurrection hope in our lives, and put it on display in tangible ways. After all, Easter is not a single day on the calendar—or even a season—it is a way of life!
In a recent article, Peter Marty tells how his maternal grandmother died suddenly at age 40, leaving behind a bereaved husband and an eight-year-old daughter (Peter’s mother.) His grandfather, a Lutheran pastor, struggled to move beyond the grief that crippled him. Every Sunday afternoon for years, he would make his daughter accompany him to the cemetery to visit the grave. “This weekly ritual,” Marty writes, “cast such a pall over my mother’s young life that it essentially blocked every other memory of her childhood.” He goes on: “Something in me wishes that a gravedigger would have walked up to him one Sunday at Cave Hill, interrupted his mourning, and said straight to his face, ‘You know, you really need to go and do something else with your Sundays. Good years are still ahead of you and your daughter. Go and make something of your life that’s not going to happen here. I’ll take care of the grave.’”[2]
Once, in the crypt at Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin (where post-worship coffee hour is held!), I saw something fascinating—if a bit bizarre: The mummified remains of a cat and a rat encased in glass. The sign told how the cat, (presumably chasing the rat), became stuck with its prey in a Cathedral organ pipe 150 years ago. As a result, both were mummified. The moral of the story? Those places we become stuck in life will become our graves if we’re not careful.
The fears, regrets, and failures that cling so closely to us can make forward movement seem impossible, locking us in a perpetual struggle from which we cannot extricate ourselves; leading us to doubt God’s presence or even existence.
All of these elements were present in the graveyard Peter Marty’s mother and grandfather visited weekly—and they were present, too, in the graveyard outside of Jerusalem where the women went to tend the body of their crucified Lord. But on this trip to the graveyard, something new, something unpredictable took place—the stone was rolled away; the tomb was empty. Jesus had been raised. Later that night, St. John tells us, the resurrected Christ made his first appearance to his fearful community, showing them his wounded hands and side and blessing them with peace. But even after that physical and spiritual encounter, the adjustment of Jesus’ apprentices to the new Easter reality didn’t happen overnight. It took years before Jesus’ disciples could put into words what they experienced and what it meant.
What does this mean for us? It means we have time. Time to discern specifically how the resurrected Christ might manifest himself in our individual lives and in the life of our community. Time to put our faith into practice on a daily basis, reaching beyond the fear, the loss, and the uncertainty that perpetually seeks to hold us captive.
No imagined resurrection can set us free from fears that crouch so closely, so craftily in the midst of our lives; no metaphorical resurrection can get us unstuck from the pervasive struggles that come with the territory of being human—only a bodily one can. “Make no mistake,” writes Updike, “if He rose at all, it was as His body…” Only the resurrection could turn cowardly Peter into a powerful preacher; could transform the persecutor Saul into the missionary Paul. Only the resurrection could turn ordinary women and men into saints and martyrs, preachers and prophets, activists and organizers intent on building bridges rather than walls, and in the process rising from the margins to become a living, breathing, vibrant community with people of every tribe and race, tongue and nation.[3]
As this Easter season enfolds we’ll be tracking both the growing percentage of vaccinations given and the proliferation of new virus strains. We’ll be developing scenarios for what a return to in-person worship might look like. We’ll be adjusting to children returning to school in hybrid models and bracing ourselves for how this return will affect our household schedules. As we engage these matters, let’s do so with a commitment to not getting stuck; let’s do so with a spirit of hopeful expectation. For Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Pastor Erik
[1] John Updike, “Seven Stanzas at Easter,” from Telephone Poles and Other Poems. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959. Published in Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2003, p. 261.
[2] Peter Marty, Christian Century. Find his full article here: https://www.christiancentury.org/article/living-word/april-4-easter-day-b-mark-161-8
[3] Shawnthea Monroe, The Word , March 16, 2016 edition of Christian Century.
CHRIST IS RISEN! ALLELUIA!Though circumstances have made ONLINE EASTER WORSHIP mandatory once again, our spirits are not bowed—for we celebrate a Risen Lord!
You can view our Easter Sunday LIVE STREAM WORSHIP SERVICE at this LINK. Hear how the crucified and risen Christ helped the women who found his tomb empty find their voices–transforming their terror into joyful mission in his name.
The service includes hymns, songs, sermon, images, prayers, and a CELEBRATION OF HOLY COMMUNION. It ends with Peace traditional–the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s MESSIAH. A PDF copy of the Service Guide can be downloaded here: Easter 1B 2021 4.4.21 livestream bulletin
The recording of our Maundy Thursday service for April 1, 2021 can be found on our YouTube channel. To participate from home you can create three simple STATIONS which will correspond to the STATIONS Pastor Erik has in the chancel at Peace. Items you can assemble for participation at home include:
The worship guide can be downloaded here: Maundy Thursday 4.1.2021 livestream bulletin
Our Good Friday Worship Service will be live streamed on our YouTube site, beginning at 7pm and will feature a live prayer room from the Peace chancel.
The liturgy will include the reading of Psalm 22, the Bidding Prayer updated for our time and context, and an extended time of prayer during which online participants will be able to send in prayer requests and have candles lit and placed on their behalf.
The service will close with a performance of WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD, by Minister of Music Jon Lackey.
A worship guide for the service can be downloaded here: Good Friday 4.2.21 7pm livestream bulletin
This version of the readings from the Gospel of John traditionally appointed for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week was recorded in 2020, during the opening weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic–during what we thought was a unique time. We did not imagine the pandemic continuing into a second Lenten season and Holy Week. As you hear references to “the year of our Lord 2020,” remember that this year–2021–is also “the year of our Lord.”
During the first three days of Holy Week we offer these brief meditations as a way of journeying with Christ. Each meditation includes an invitation to reflect, a scripture reading from the Gospel of John, and a concluding prayer, framed by original music. We thank Boots Winterstein for these meditations and Laura Bermes for the original music and for putting them together.
With you, on the Way,
Pastor Erik Kindem
This version of the readings from the Gospel of John traditionally appointed for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week was recorded in 2020, during the opening weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic–during what we thought was a unique time. We did not imagine the pandemic continuing into a second Lenten season and Holy Week. As you hear references to “the year of our Lord 2020,” remember that this year–2021–is also “the year of our Lord.”
During the first three days of Holy Week we offer these brief meditations as a way of journeying with Christ. Each meditation includes an invitation to reflect, a scripture reading from the Gospel of John, and a concluding prayer, framed by original music. We thank Boots Winterstein for these meditations and Laura Bermes for the original music and for putting them together.
With you, on the Way,
Pastor Erik Kindem
This version of the readings from the Gospel of John traditionally appointed for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week was recorded in 2020, during the opening weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic–during what we thought was a unique time. We did not imagine the pandemic continuing into a second Lenten season and Holy Week. As you hear references to “the year of our Lord 2020,” remember that this year–2021–is also “the year of our Lord.”
During the first three days of Holy Week we offer these brief meditations as a way of journeying with Christ. Each meditation includes an invitation to reflect, a scripture reading from the Gospel of John, and a concluding prayer, framed by original music. We thank Boots Winterstein for these meditations and Laura Bermes for the original music and for putting them together.
With you, on the Way,
Pastor Erik Kindem
Welcome to Peace – We’re glad you found us!On Palm/Passion Sunday we join the crowds who flocked around Jesus as he enters the Holy City of Jerusalem. Then, we hear the story of his final days, accompanied by images that tell the story.
You can find our 10:30am Worship Service from Palm/Passion Sunday by clicking on this YouTube Link.
A printed copy of the Worship Guide can be found here: Palm-Passion B 2021 03.28.21 livestream bulletin
Look for Meditations on the Peace Homepage to appear serially on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week.
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services will each be live streamed at 7pm.
On each of the Wednesdays in Lent our community gathers online via the ZOOM platform for Evening Prayer @ 7pm, followed by an open Fellowship Time from 7:30 – 8:30pm.
Using readings from Mark’s gospel and art based on those readings, we will reflect on what it means to be in community with one another, with the world, with creation, and with God. During a time of great loss, we claim the gospel promise that “There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole.”
Members of Peace can expect a ZOOM invitation in their email inboxes each week on Wednesday afternoon. If you are not a regular constituent of Peace but would like to participate, you may contact Pastor Erik Kindem to request a link to the ZOOM gatherings.
You can find a worship guide here:
The Calling of the Sons of Zebedee, Marco Basaiti (1510)
What does this mean?