Category: Adult Spiritual Growth

Apr. 10 ~ Good Friday Reflections

*In an effort to keep our community safe, Grace Church services and all musical rehearsals are suspended through March 31st, 2020. Please check back here and the Grace Church Facebook page for alternative online worship experiences.
Other church-sponsored meetings are also cancelled through March 31st. AA will continue to meet. Please contact the church office for more details: 802-775-4301.

We gather to reflect on the themes of Good Friday through poetry and discussion.

When: Good Friday, April 10, 7 p.m.

Where: Grace Church Sanctuary

About:  In the early first century Christian church, every Friday was a special day of prayer and fasting. Not until the fourth century did the Friday before Easter become a special observance originally called ‘Great Friday’ or ‘Holy Friday’. But why would this sad day on which Jesus was crucified ever be called ‘Good Friday’. In the early church, the Friday before Easter was referred to as ‘God’s Friday’, and over the years, ‘God’s’ was replaced with ‘Good’. But to this day, many Christians do find a transcendent good in the awful realities of Jesus’ crucifixion. His sacrifice on the cross highlights humanity’s inhumanity to each other. The horror of the crucifixion, in grim juxtaposition to Jesus’ innocence and martyrdom, only serves to magnify that inhumanity. This year, we will explore the dramatic themes of Good Friday through poetry and reflection in the candle-lit beauty of Grace Church Sanctuary. Our hope is that the collective conscience of the human race is inspired to never repeat the cruelty, but increase in justice and love.

Apr. 9 ~ Maundy Thursday Service

*In an effort to keep our community safe, Grace Church services and all musical rehearsals are suspended through March 31st, 2020. Please check back here and the Grace Church Facebook page for alternative online worship experiences.
Other church-sponsored meetings are also cancelled through March 31st. AA will continue to meet. Please contact the church office for more details: 802-775-4301.

“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43

When: Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 7 p.m.

Where: Grace Church Sanctuary

About:  Maundy Thursday Service of Communion and Tenebrae
The Sanctuary Choir, Grace SSAA choir and Joyful Noise offer a service of Lessons and Carols for Maundy Thursday. The anthems reflect the Seven Last Words of Christ, which this year will be paralleled with the creation story. The wide variety of anthems include music from Estonia, Ireland and Weston Priory (Vermont).

2020 Lenten Services

*In an effort to keep our community safe, Grace Church services and all musical rehearsals are suspended through March 31st, 2020. Please check back here and the Grace Church Facebook page for alternative online worship experiences.
Other church-sponsored meetings are also cancelled through March 31st. AA will continue to meet. Please contact the church office for more details: 802-775-4301.

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020
Ash Wednesday Services, 7 AM (Chapel) and 5:30 PM  (Sanctuary). Rev. Bob Boutwell officiating. Mark the beginning of Lent with an Ash Wednesday Worship Service as we enter the Lenten discipline through a Service of  Prayer and Ashes.

Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020
Women’s Ministries Breakfast and Service of Prayer and Reflection, 8:30 – 10AM, Parlor. Join us as we gather for a time of fellowship and an opportunity for silence, prayer, and preparation as we begin the season of Lent.  Breakfast will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the service to follow. Rev. Linda Kulas will lead us in this service.

Thursday, April 9, 2020
Maundy Thursday Service, 7-8PM

Friday, April 10, 2020
Good Friday Service,  7-8PM, In the early first century Christian church, every Friday was a special day of prayer and fasting. Not until the fourth century did the Friday before Easter become a special observance originally called ‘Great Friday’ or ‘Holy Friday’. But why would this sad day on which Jesus was crucified ever be called ‘Good Friday’. In the early church, the Friday before Easter was referred to as ‘God’s Friday’, and over the years, ‘God’s’ was replaced with ‘Good’. But to this day, many Christians do find a transcendent good in the awful realities of Jesus’ crucifixion. His sacrifice on the cross highlights humanity’s inhumanity to each other. The horror of the crucifixion, in grim juxtaposition to Jesus’ innocence and martyrdom, only serves to magnify that inhumanity. This year, we will explore the dramatic themes of Good Friday through poetry and reflection in the candle-lit beauty of Grace Church Sanctuary. Our hope is that the collective conscience of the human race is inspired to never repeat the cruelty, but increase in justice and love. Thus we are redeemed.

Sunday, April 5, 2020
Palm Sunday, 8:30AM & 10AM

Sunday, April 12, 2020
Easter, 10AM