MAUNDY THURS, April 6 – EASTER SUNDAY, April 9
HOLY WEEK with JCC and around town
- VIA CRUCIS – Way of the Cross
Ongoing • JCC Sacntuary
- Self-guided.
- Crosses used in this personal pilgrimage, most hanging in the windows, come from around the world.
- Front doors open and unlocked 24/7. Come whenever your schedule permits. Several written guides are available, tracing the Via Crucis journey with specific concerns in mind: healing, environmental care, recovering from addiction, surviving trauma, discerning prayer. The guides also include ones written specifically for women, children, refugees, seniors, LGBTQ+ allies, and using perspective from St Teresa,
St Francis, Ignatians, and using Biblical versions offered by Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis.
MAUNDY THURSDAY, April 6
- SOUP SUPPER & MAUNDY THURSDAY WORSHIP
6pm • Parish Hall of JCC
- Worship at table as communion meal
- Discussion over the meal
- Scripture: Last Supper & Prayers in Gesthemane
- Special song written & performed by Sharon Novak
- Soups prepared by Sue Carrigan & Wendy McVey
- Event hosted by the deacons
- Close with stripping of the altar
HOLY FRIDAY, April 7
- VIGIL on HOLY FRIDAY
Noon-3pm • JCC Sanctuary
- Scripture readings offered aloud in the sanctuary at noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm.
- Texts narrate final hours of Christ
- Traditional day to experience Stations of Cross (also offered in sanctuary during this time and throughout Holy Week).
- Virtual stations of the c ross will be posted to Facebook and the website.
- ECUMENICAL WORSHIP for HOLY FRIDAY
6pm • Christ Church Episcopal, North Conway, NH
- Tenebrae service
- Last even words of Christ
- Putting out candles
- Scirpture and song
- This service is offered by Clergy of the Eastern Mountain Slope in Mt Washington Valley.
EASTER SUNDAY, April 9
- SUNRISE EASTER SERVICE
6am • Presidential Drive Cul-de-Sac, Jackson, NH
- In-person only
- Scripture
- Singing
- EASTER WORSHIP with Flowering of Cross @ JCC
10:30am • Jackson Community Church
- Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/142985761?pwd=T214WDhHRmxoYXE0dWRCNk53SFppQT09
- Option: Call on touch-tone phone: 929.436.2866, Meeting ID: 142985761, Password: 603603
- Featuring harp with Dominique Dodge and special music by Gia Osborne
- Flowering of Cross @ JCC
- HOSPITALITY @ JCC
11:30am • Parish Hall - COMMUNITY EGG HUNT
11am-2pm JCC and around village
This Week: Mar 25-Apr 1 — Holy Week Events & Other Activities
SUN, MAR 25: Palm Sunday
- INTERFAITH GATHERING
8am • Madeline’s Deli, Jackson, NH
Reflection & prayer using literature, sacred texts, personal sharing. - ADULT CHOIR PRACTICE
9am • Jackson Community Church - PALM PROCESSION
9:45am • Jackson Community Church - WORSHIP: Palm Sunday
10:30am • Jackson Community Church - Community Event: Bliss Yoga
3pm • Be Well Studios New Hampshire, 3358 White Mountain Hwy Unit 3, North Conway, NH
Yoga with Anjali Rose, $20/pp
MON, MAR 26
- REIKI WORKSHOP (closed class, April class has openings: contact Rev Gail if interested)
6pm • Classroom/Betty Whitney Library, Second Floor of JCC
TUE, MAR 27
- Community Event:
HOMELESSNESS COALITION in Tamworth, NH
10am-Noon • TriCounty Cap, Sununu Room, Tamworth, NH
Overview of issues and initiatives to address homelessness and housing needs in Carroll County/Mt Washington Valley. Rev Gail will attend this meeting along with other valley clergy, and representatives of local agencies and nonprofits, focusing on this issue. Interested individuals are welcome to attend to learn more.
WED, MAR 28
- PASTOR’s DROP-IN
7-9am • JTown Deli.
Come for caffeine, cuisine, and conversation. - TUNE UP (Fitness) with LAURIE McALEER
9am • Parish Hall, Jackson Community Church.
Free. Join members of the women’s group and fitness trainer Laurie McAleer for a gentle, introductory fitness class for beginners. Wear comfortably clothing, sensible shoes, and bring a bottle of water. Bring a ski pole. Men and women both welcome to come try this class. Laurie will lead a fitness class that can be customized to each person’s abilities, and help improve overall wellbeing, as well as focusing on body areas that may need additional support and care. - WOMEN’S GROUP
10am-Noon • Parish Hall
Come for social time, refreshments, and to prepare eggs for Easter Egg hunt on April 1
THURS, MAR 29
- INTRODUCTORY YOGA with Anjali Rose
9am • Parish Hall, Jackson Community Church
Men and women invited to join instructor Anjali Rose for a gentle, introductory yoga class. Wear stretchy fitness clothing, bring a matt and a cushion/blanket if you have them. $10/class for 6 weeks; payable at beginning of session. Scholarships available. This session runs through April 19. - YOGA & MEDITATION with Charlotte Doucette
3:30pm • Parish Hall. $10/pp fee. (Scholarships available) - MAUNDY THURSDAY OBSERVANCES: Bread & Blessings
5pm • Parish Hall of Jackson Community Church.
Gather with members and friends for dinner and worship. This evening is derived from events surrounding the ‘Last Supper’ and will include a meditation on bread and blessings. - AA
6-7pm • Church Library
THURS, Mar 29 – FRI, MAR 30: HOLY FRIDAY VIGIL
- VIGIL
6pm Thursday until 1pm Friday • Shifts held at home, although church is open 24/7 and people are welcome to hold vigil at the church. Individuals and families can sign up in one-hour shifts from 6pm Thursday until 3pm Friday, to pray, meditate and stay awake during the hours of Christ’s arrest, trial and crucifixion. This vigil will be held ‘by trust’ in people’s homes, or at church if they so choose, so that each person who takes a one-hour shift to keep vigil may do so in their own environs. Sign up at church on Palm Sunday.
FRI, MAR 30: HOLY FRIDAY
- WAY of the CROSS
1pm • Jackson Community Church
Come for journey through ‘stations of the cross.’ Walk the stations, or meditate with Stations coloring pages - HOLY FRIDAY SERVICE
6:30pm • Bartlett Congregational Church.
Ecumenical worship services organized by Clergy of the Eastern Slope and hosted at Bartlett Congregational Church.
SAT, MAR 30: HOLY SATURDAY
- Community Event:
HEALING SERVICE
1pm • Christ Episcopal Church, North Conway, NH
SUN, APR 1: EASTER
- SUNRISE SERVICE
6:30am • Gazebo by Jackson’s Historical Society. Gather outside for worship & song. Return to Jackson Community Church for hot beverages and breakfast. - EASTER SERVICE
10:30am • Jackson Community Church.
Easter worship with “flowering of the cross.” - EGG HUNT
Follows worship service • Jackson Community Church. Hunt for eggs on grounds of church. Hunt will take place outdoors if weather permits, inside if weather is inclement.
Sermon: Broken Open
JCC 043017 – Broken Open from architect on Vimeo.
Meditations: Risks, Rising & Renewal (Holy Week)
Bread by Helena Minton
The dough rises in the sun,
History of the human race inside it
Orgies, famines, Christianity,
Eras when a man could have his arm
Chopped off for stealing half a loaf.
I punch it down, knead the dark
Flour unto the light, let it bake,
Then set it on the table beside the knife,
Learning the power,
Cooks have over others, the please
Of saying eat.
The Exodus from Egypt occurs in every human being, in every era, in every year, and in every day. — Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
The Seder nights… tie me with the centuries before me. — Ludwig Fran
from A Short History of Israel, Notes and Glosses By Charles Reznikoff
XI
A hundred generations, yes, a hundred and twenty-five,
had the strength each day
not to eat this and that (unclean!)
not to say this and that,
not to do this and that (unjust!),
and with all this and all that
to go about
as men and Jews
among their enemies
(these are the Pharisees you mocked at, Jesus).
Whatever my grandfathers did or said
for all of their brief lives
still was theirs,
as all of it drops at a moment make the fountain
and all of its leaves a palm.
Each word they spoke and every thought
was heard, each step and every gesture seen,
by God;
their past was still the present and the present
a dread future’s.
But I am private as an animal.
I have eaten whatever I liked,
I have slept as long as I wished,
I have left the highway like a dog
to run into every alley;
now I must learn to fast and to watch.
I shall walk better in these heavy boots
than barefoot.
I will fast for you, Judah,
and be silent for you
and wake in the night because of you;
I will speak for you
in psalms,
and feast because of you
on unleavened bread and herbs.
Bread By Richard Levine
Each night, in a space he’d make
between waking and purpose,
my grandfather donned his one
suit, in our still dark house, and drove
through Brooklyn’s deserted streets
following trolley tracks to the bakery.
There he’d change into white
linen work clothes and cap,
and in the absence of women,
his hands were both loving, well
into dawn and throughout the day—
kneading, rolling out, shaping
each astonishing moment
of yeasty predictability
in that windowless world lit
by slightly swaying naked bulbs,
where the shadows staggered, woozy
with the aromatic warmth of the work.
Then, the suit and drive, again.
At our table, graced by a loaf
that steamed when we sliced it,
softened the butter and leavened
the very air we’d breathe,
he’d count us blessed.
The piece of bread is an ambassador of the cosmos offering nourishment and support … In the Christian tradition … The bread is Jesus. Jesus is not someone, something, that is outside the bread, Jesus is the bread. And with mindfulness, and concentration, you get in touch with Jesus. In Buddhism, we don’t say that, but we say the piece of bread in your hand is the body of the Cosmos. And when you see the sunshine, the cloud, the rain, the earth, everything in the piece of bread, you have seen the bread … A few seconds of mindfulness help you to see the bread as it is, as it is, the body of the Cosmos. Everything is in there. And with that, you put it into your mouth, and you get in touch with the whole Cosmos. You don’t have to think … there’s awareness … there’s getting in touch … there’s a feeling that’s inside. But there is no thinking. — Thich Nhat Hanh
The spiritual task of life is to feed hope. Hope is not something to be found outside of us. It lies in the spiritual life we cultivate within. The whole purpose of wrestling with life is to be transformed into the self we are meant to become, to step out of the confines of our false securities and allow our creating God to go on creating. In us. — Sr. Joan Chittister
Easter By Jill Alexander Essbaum
is my season
of defeat.
Though all
is green
and death
is done,
I feel alone.
As if the stone
rolled off
from the head
of the tomb
is lodged
in the doorframe
of my room,
and everyone
I’ve ever loved
lives happily
just past
my able reach.
And each time
Jesus rises
I’m reminded
of this marble
fact:
they are not
coming back.