Weekly Parish Email for Passion Sunday (Lent V): 6 April 2025

The website is also a place to check our “Current operating status” – in other words, whether or not the church is open for services, in case of inclement weather (or unusual episodes like the sabotage of transformers a few years ago). If in doubt, check us out! Other options include Meet Our Clergy, Who We Are, Services and Office Hours, and How to find us.

All of these links can also be found by scrolling down the main page, as can also sections on “Find Your Place” – ministries of the parish, which you may wish to join – “Recent Media,” both video and audio, and “Recent Posts” on our nascent blog page. The goal is for this to become a “one-stop shop” for information about Christ Church Anglican.

If you have any questions or issues, please contact our media team at [email protected]. And if you wish to volunteer for our media team, please contact our IT/AV/Social media specialist, John Fesq, at [email protected].

Announcements for the Week of Sunday, April 6, 2024

If you are visiting us: Welcome to Christ Church Anglican, Southern Pines! Thank you for being with us. We are very pleased to have you join us for the service, and hope that your worship here is a blessing to you. Please sign the guest book on the table in the narthex, and provide appropriate contact information. Include your email address in order to be placed on our parish email list: you won’t be bombarded with mail, but it’s a good way to keep in touch. And may God bless you!

Easter Lilies: If you would like to donate one or more Easter lilies to beautify our church – in honor or in memory of someone special, or to the glory of God – for the Feast of the Resurrection, now is the time to order them! The suggested donation is $20; please contact Sandy Parsons at our church contact page.

Stations of the Cross – Fridays in Lent: Our last offering of this traditional Lenten observance, the Stations of the Cross, will be at 5 o’clock this Friday: . The practice of pilgrims to the Holy Land – following the Way of Sorrows from the house of Pilate to the Holy Sepulchre – was the origin of this devotion, which became widespread in the later Middle Ages, although it was not completely formalized until the eighteenth century. This is a popular and appropriate devotion during Lent and Holy Week.

5:00 p.m. Fridays – Stations of the Cross

Altar Guild: The Altar Guild is a lay ministry with a vocation to serve God in His house by preparing the Sanctuary for worship, maintaining and caring for the sacred vessels, altar linens, and vestments, and serving the clergy and the parish. Serving on the Altar Guild is a form of religious vocation, and a sacred responsibility. If you feel called to this mission and ministry within Christ Church Anglican, Southern Pines, we would receive your service with gratitude.

Please contact either Fr. Tom (best means of contact is via email at [email protected]; if you call – 443-487-2741 – please leave a message, or send me a text) or Sandy Parsons (at our church contact page )if you are interested in serving in this fashion!

Church cleanup day: We will be holding a cleanup day on April 12th (April 19th as backup) to clean the church building and grounds prior to Easter.  Please put this day on your calendar – we’d appreciate help from “all hands” if you’re available to assist!

Re-launch – Children’s Vegetable and Herb Garden: Some may recall that there had been an intention to create a children’s garden next to the church, last year, but that for a variety of reasons that never occurred. Junior Warden Amanda Goodwin LeVasseur presented the following proposal to the Vestry at our last meeting:

“Proposal for a Parish garden this year: The plan from last year was to have children, and those young at heart, to plant a modest vegetable and herb garden along the north exterior wall of the church. I have an assortment of seeds and would like to sprout them so children and others can plant them sometime in late March. This would require very little cost to the church. We have sprinklers and would just need to run them regularly so the plants could thrive. There would need to have adequate garden soil in the area selected and donations of timbers or stones to define the beds. This is already in the planning stages. I would also like to propose that we plant the flowers in the front bed at this same time.”

Note that the proposal is for “children and those young at heart”! That means that adults who are interested in getting their hands in the dirt are more than welcome to join in. If you are interested in being part of this project on any level or in any capacity, or just desire further information, please contact Amanda at our church contact page.

Commemorations for the Week of April 6th, 2025:

Tuesday, April 8th – William Augustus Muhlenberg, Priest (18772)
Wednesday, April 9th – William Law, Priest (1761)
Friday, April 11th – George Augustus Selwyn, Bishop (1878)

What is Passion Sunday?

(Credit: Quoted and lightly edited from
https://ctkh.org/what-is-passion-sunday/)
 

Passion Sunday traditionally refers to the Fifth Sunday in Lent, a day that marks a shift in focus as the Church begins to turn its gaze more intently toward the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Historically, it was distinguished from Palm Sunday (the sixth Sunday in Lent), which begins Holy Week with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Passion Sunday, by contrast, sets the stage for the Passion narrative; the story of Christ’s betrayal, trial, crucifixion, and ultimate sacrifice.

The fifth Sunday in Lent serves as a hinge between the earlier weeks of penitence and the intense drama of Holy Week. The collects, readings, and hymns appointed for this day draw the congregation into the Passion story. In many Anglican parishes, Passion Sunday also marks a practical shift in worship. The mood becomes more austere: crosses may be veiled (a practice inherited from medieval tradition), and the liturgy takes on a tone of solemn anticipation. These outward signs mirror the inward journey of the faithful, preparing hearts and minds for the events of Good Friday and the glory of Easter Sunday.

Passion Sunday is not merely a historical commemoration but a theological encounter. It invites reflection on the mystery of the Incarnation; that God became man, suffered, and died for humanity’s sake. This doctrine of atonement lies at the heart of Passion Sunday’s observance, reminding Anglicans of the cost of their redemption.

Passion Sunday might look different depending on local custom. But regardless of style, the day bridges the communal and the personal. It’s a moment when the Church, as the Body of Christ, unites in contemplation of the Head who gave himself for all. For many Anglicans, it’s also a time to renew Lenten disciplines such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, as the season nears its climax.

In today’s world, where suffering and uncertainty abound, Passion Sunday resonates deeply. It offers us a framework to grapple with pain, both personal and societal, through the lens of Christ’s Passion. Moreover, Passion Sunday challenges the individualism of modern life. In an age of self-reliance, it proclaims dependence on a Savior who bore the world’s sins. For Anglicans, shaped by a tradition of corporate worship and common prayer, this is a powerful counterpoint. It’s a day to stand together, to mourn together, and to look forward together to the empty tomb.

So, what is Passion Sunday? From an Anglican perspective, it is a sacred threshold; a moment when the Church steps deeper into the mystery of Christ’s love, revealed in his suffering and death. It is a day of shadows, yes, but shadows cast by the light of Easter dawn. It calls Anglicans to repentance, to worship, and to trust in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: who, by his one oblation of himself once offered, has presented a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.

As we mark Passion Sunday, let us walk this ancient path with open hearts, ready to receive anew the gift of Christ’s Passion, and the promise it holds for us all.