SOUTH-MADISON AREA ELS/WELS JOINT EASTER VIGIL

Join Faith, Resurrection, and Western Koshkonong Lutheran Churches for our annual joint Easter Vigil Service. This year’s service in our yearly rotation will take place here at Faith.

The Easter Vigil is an ancient (c. 350 A.D.) tradition that connects our Baptism to Jesus’ Resurrection. The service, which is unlike any other in the church, begins outside with a fire. Believers then process into the darkened sanctuary with candles, as the lights are gradually illumined, when finally the feast of the Lamb, the Lord’s Supper, is celebrated and the Alleluias are sung! Join us as we await the dawn of Easter together!

When: Holy Saturday March 30, 2023.  Service begins at sunset: 7:22pm.  

Where: Faith Lutheran Church, 143 Washington St., Oregon, WI

Join us for our Easter worship services in Oregon, WI over three historic services from Friday-Saturday, in addition to Easter Sunday.

After 40 Days of Lent, the Christian Year has now reached its climax. We have come to the celebration of the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the celebration for which we have been preparing throughout Lent. Now we see what our Savior came to do. We see Him suffer and die for our sins and for the sins of the world. And we see Him rise triumphantly on Easter morning to assure us that our salvation is complete, the victory is won.

The three services begin on Maundy Thursday. All three services are dramatic each in their own way and intimately connected to each other. The focus as always, is Christ.

Maundy Thursday | 6:30pm – Divine Service. After celebrating the Lord’s Supper, the altar is stripped of its vestments and appointments, recalling the Lord’s abandonment in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Good Friday | 6:30pm – Tenebrae Service. A solemn service of adoration of Jesus the Lamb of God as He offers up his life. Throughout the service the Passion Account from John’s Gospel is read as candles are extinguished.

Holy Saturday | Sundown (7:22pm) – Easter Vigil Service. 
A joint service of South Madison Area ELS & WELS Churches. This service begins at dusk with a bonfire outside, before we process into the darkened sanctuary.

The Easter Alleluia sounds forth for the first time in the midst of the dark night and we are carried in spirit to Christ’s tomb where the Creator’s Sabbath rest was transformed into a new Day and Age, the Day of the Lord.

Collectively, these services over these three days are called the Paschal Triduum.

Paschal = The Biblical word for “Easter”
Triduum = “The Three Days.”

Finally, join us for…

Easter Sunday | 9:00am – Easter Festival Divine Service.  Fellowship breakfast at 7:45am.

With Easter, Christ fulfills the Old Testament Passover, proving God’s anger has passed over us because of His sacrificial death as the Lamb of God.  For this reason, it is most fitting to celebrate with the feast that Christ Himself instituted to commemorate His death and resurrection until He comes (1 Cor. 11:26): Holy Communion.

Over nearly the last three weeks, I have been deliberating between two completely separate Divine Calls I received, to serve as Pastor at Christ Lutheran Church & Classical School in Port St. Lucie, FL, and to serve as Pastor at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Lombard, IL. Below is my letter I read yesterday at Faith and sent to each of the other congregations on my decision.

Call-Decision-St.-Timothy-Lombard-Christ-Port.-St.-Lucie

Beers & Bibles. Wisdom & Virtue. There are not enough good men…become one. Join Pastor Hendrix at Bodihow Brewery here in Oregon every other Thursday at 6:30pm beginning February 8 for this study on Wisdom and Virtue (from the Latin word for “Man”, vir) from the Book of Proverbs, written by a man God granted with incredible wisdom, King Solomon, but who ultimately let his own wisdom climb too high above other things.

Men, let Pastor Hendrix know if you are interested. Email or text at 608-405-9522. We’ll meet at whatever table is available and large enough for our size of small group.

Real women. Real lives. Real stories of God’s faithfulness.

This 6-session Book study for women, led by Carla, will be held at the new Oregon Library every other Thursday at 6:30pm, beginning February 1.

About the book:

“From alcoholism to postpartum depression to cancer, twelve different women share the story of God’s faithfulness in their lives for the consolation of their sisters in Christ. Each session begins with a scripture reading followed by a narrative of an individual woman’s real-life story. Eight study questions, designed for both personal and group study, help the reader apply the reading and narrative to her own life in Christ. A meditative hymn stanza and collect complete each session.”

Interested ladies can email or text Carla at 952-452-2450. Meet in either the upstairs Conference Room at the Library or the Upstairs Fireside Room.