This Weekend..March 22..Mid/Jr Hi

If your middle school Yg person has been planning on the overnight...please let me know.  I have only heard from one parent...and we need at least four teens.

Resurrection Party: Easter Day Seek and Find without the Awful

Once upon a time I was in charge and the Easter Egg Hunt was an example of everything that church should not be.  Cheating, hoarding, not enough stuff for the choristers and acolytes.  I decided then and there to change this game.  After several incarnations I am proud to say I think I have the most lovely Easter day game.

This year St. Paul's will offer a
RESURRECTION PARTY after the 10.30 am Holy Eucharist on Easter Sunday (April 20).

There is seeking.  There is finding.  There is mission, justice and kindness.  There are surprise treasures.  However there will not be unsupervised candy.  Or hoarding.  Or wasteful junk.

If you would like to help supply the supplies and surprises...then read ahead...but if you have children..make sure they are nowhere nearby!!!!!

The Resurrection Party needs:

• 25+ animal shaped eggs, like ducky eggs, or metallic eggs.  (About $20 for the ducks or $10 for the metallic)
• 25+ living potted flowers
• 25+ Holy Trinity 'coins' that can be carried or strung on a string and worn.  These cost about $20, and JAG can tell you where to order them.
• If you dearly desire to donate candy it must be individually wrapped and have no nuts and not be chocolate.  How awful would it be for a guest child to be offered candy that he or she cannot eat?  (Candy will be at the 'finish line' where parent can supervise choices).

Tenebrae..Service of Shadows: 6pm April 16th

The St. Paul's Youth Group will be offering a unique incarnation of the Tenebrae Service this April. 

Tenebrae means shadows, and the Tenebrae service begins with light and ends in near darkness.  This is a contemplative service that will be comfortable for a wide audience.

Our Tenebrae service will feature the instrumental music of our youth while wandering through excerpts and prayers from the devotional book Common Prayer for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Enuma Okoro.  

Original Vigil: April 19th 7.30 pm

Human worship patterns may have originated in the experience of ancient tribes telling stories around the fire.  Stories about who we are and where we came from and where we imagine we are going.  The pattern of our Sunday Eucharist is much like that...story, song, story, song, reflection, and prayers followed by the sharing of blessed food.  To offer a story and or bring some food (or tend the fire) please follow this link.

This year St. Paul's is going to try an original approach to the ancient practice of an Easter Vigil.  Learning from the work of dinner church projects across the country, and recalling the ancient roots of all liturgy we will be celebrating together the resurrection of our Lord with an Original Vigil.  It may need a better name, but for now that will do.

What will this Original Vigil be like?  

• We will celebrate at the home of Earl and Sandi B. Please call or email St. Paul's if you need to know where they live.
• We will begin promptly at sundown,7.30pm. 
• We will begin our worship by bringing forth a holy fire.
• Families and groups of friends will be invited to take on the telling of various Vigil stories as they choose to do so.  Creativity and originality are welcome at this Original Vigil.  
• Guests are encouraged!
• Following the declaration of Christ's resurrection we will proceed inside for a Dinner Church Holy Eucharist: communion with a whole sacred meal.

If this sounds interesting or intriguing at all, then mark it on your calendar!
This might be a great option for folks who want an ancient practice but desire to avoid the crowds.  It also might be a good choice for folks who are drawn in multiple directions on Easter Sunday.

The Vigil Stories can be told dramatically, musically or in any creative or simple format.  For this Original Vigil the 'readings' are:

• 1st Creation Story: Gen 1
• The Exodus: 14.10-31, 15.20-21
• Dry Bones: Ezek 37
• Psalm 98
• Resurrection: Matt 28

If your family or group of friends or merry self would like to claim one of these readings...please make your comment below!

We will begin at 7.30 pm, and we will be done no later than 9pm.  
We will celebrate at the home of the Blackaby's.  

Plenty of time for all ages to rest up for the excitement of Easter morning.  :)

Yg: Lent Plans

YgWW for March and April 
will be focused on our procession towards Holy Week and Easter.  
New this year the Yg will offer the service of Tenebrae on April 16 at 7pm.
Each week before hand worship will focus on one of the lessons from Tenebrae.   It will consist of readings and instrumental music and candle extinguishing.  
It is a way to give back to the worship life of St. Paul's.

12  March               Whedon Wednesday     The World is Ending Again?  

19  March               Crash Course: Treasure

26   March             Whedon Wednesday     Sacrifice of Love

2 April                   Game: Board Games

9 April                   No Yg…SPRING BREAK

16 April                 Offer Tenebrae for Holy Week  (please arrive by 5.30pm)

Shrove Tuesday Tonight!!!!

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper is tonight at 6pm.  

We need all the help we can get..and you have the chance to wear a costume or just something wacky. 

• Set Up will start at 4pm..
• Pancake making around 5.15 pm...
• Serving from 6 till done...
• and clean up till about 8.30 pm. 

A reminder that Ash Wednesday is one of the most important worship experiences for your Christian practice.  If you have never been, you should join us this year.  Services at 7am, 12.10pm and 7pm.  We also may have Ashes-to-Go downtown (if it is not raining) and at the Reid Center during the lunch hours.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church,  Walla Walla   www.stpaulsww.org

Lastly, THERE IS NOT YOUTH GROUP ON WEDNESDAY.  

Ready Set Lent! Online Resource Discussion February 19th from 2.30p-3.30p

Are you still wondering about how to foster a most Holy Lent for adults, or teens, or children, or families?  I will be hosting a 'google hangout' discussion on February 19 to discuss options, ideas and easy to get resources for your Holy Lent.

More resources will be posted here next week!