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I'd be interested to hear what Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter services you're planning on leading or attending.

Fremont Baptist is joining Seattle First Baptist in a meal/service on Thursday at Queen Anne Baptist. I'm scheduled to read from Luke.

Maundy Thursday, I am leading a Tenebrae Service that will include communion by intinction. It is primarily a service of scripture an hymns. On Easter Sunday, we will celebrate first with a Sunrise Service behind the church in the old cemetery that has been in use since the 1870's. Then a more traditional Easter Worship in the church at 10. After that, exhausted clergy members are off until Tuesday.

Yesterday we had a Palm Sunday presentation of the passion portion of the Messiah in our first service, the kids "Palm Parade" in the 2nd service, and our handbells playing 3rd service. I also borrowed the baptistry over at First Baptist Church to perform an immersion baptism on a young lady who wanted to be baptized by that mode.

We have Maundy Thursday worship with Holy Communion, on Good Friday we are having a Taize service and then our usual three services on Easter Sunday. We will have communion in all three services Easter morning.

We will have a prayer service at 7:00 on Good Friday, a sunrise service on Easter and resurrection celebration at our 10:45 a.m Sunday service. Although Palm Sunday is usually a pretty big deal in a church with a predominantly Latino membership, our attendance was somewhat thin on Sunday due to the unexpectedly heavy nature of the April blizzard we had. We actually had a difficult time getting home.

I don't know how many laity call Notre-Dame de Paris their home parish, but you've got to admit a little storm activity is nothing to the Holy Week disaster they're enduring. I remember my family's visit there in June, 1968, with the square in front full (I think I recall) of police vehicles—it was only a couple weeks after the height of the student riots of that year, which took place while we were in the USSR—and how we went into the building, what I would now call the narthex, not sure if I knew the term at the time nor if it's technically correct, and could hear Gregorian chant at the far, nave end of the sanctuary, the end where apparently today's inferno was centered, and my dad raising his voice in parody: "My_____ mother-can-beat-your-mother-at DOM-inoe_____s!"

I hope your Easter is a glorious and exciting celebration of the resurrection. It was a bit chilly at the sunrise service, but looks like we may have one of the first real "springlike" days of the season here in Northern Illinois. I'm looking forward to the first Easter service my wife and I will celebrate with our new church family.

Христосъ воскресъ!

Ed: We where quite pleased with the attendance at our Resurrection Day service which was again held outside. While our regular group meeting in the condo associations club house has ranged from thirteen to twenty four, The attendance yesterday was between 45 to 50. It was some what difficult to get an accurate count due to the layout of the park like lot provided by one of our nearby neighbors.

This despite the fact that population of the resort is down by around 45% since many of the snow birds make it a point to be "home" for Easter, others like ourselves will be heading out for their annual summer trips. We are leaving Thursday and plan to return around the end of August.