Easter – April 12

Dear Beloved Community of Hope and New Life!

The high point of the year is here for all Christians! Please join in an uplifting, hope-filled and celebratory Easter Sunday worship by clicking above to view the video.

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Good Friday – April 10

For Good Friday, if you are so inclined, you can arrange for a place to kneel in front of a cross that you may have in your home. At the end of the service, after the cross is veiled and adored, you will see me kneel and pray and touch the cross in reverence. This can be a very meaningful practice for this service as it becomes a way for us to physically acknowledge the powerful symbol of what the cross truly means: God’s love and hope for the world even in the midst of suffering.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Jim

Maundy Thursday – April 9

Dear Beloved Community,

Maundy Thursday begins the Three Days (Latin: Triduum) worship service, which signifies the end of the 40 days of Lent.

I believe that participating in these Holy Week services is a very real and timely resource for each of us in these troubled times. I hope you will be able to set aside some holy and sacred time for them. The links for the bulletin and Celebrate for Maundy Thursday are to the right.

For Maundy Thursday, please gather some bread and wine/grape juice so that you can receive Holy Communion, which is another meaningful spiritual resource we can draw from as we are brought together in the Spirit by receiving this sacrament from each other, or by ourselves.

God’s Spirit moves in ways we cannot fully understand around the meaning of this meal that Jesus left us to remember him by. I hope that you are drawing closer to God and each other by taking part in Holy Communion in this way, given our present circumstances.

Thank you to all of you who have sent messages of gratitude and encouragement for the recorded services. It means a lot to hear from you. And, as always, please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can provide any pastoral support to you and your family in these trying times.  831-325-9095

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Jim

Putting up the Palms

Many thanks to Don Smawley and his brother Bill for decorating the St. Stephen’s sanctuary for Palm Sunday. This is a labor of love they’ve done for many years.

They even put palms on the lamp post next to the church sign.