I (Pastor Clark) am excited for our Tenebrae/Communion Service on Maundy Thursday, April 2^nd at 6:30pm.  Maundy Thursday is the night before Good Friday; the night when Jesus ate his last Passover supper with His disciples and where He instituted the first communion service. The word Maundy comes from the Latin word for “commandment,” which Jesus gave when He told His disciples that He was leaving them “a new commandment,” recorded in John 13:34-35 (NIV)  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

The service will begin with sharing the elements of communion together followed by the service of Tenebrae. The Tenebrae service is an ancient tradition in Christian history, being celebrated for generations. Tenebrae is once again a Latin word meaning “shadows” or “darkness.”    As scriptures detailing the events of Jesus’ passion are read, the lights are dimmed and candles are extinguished until at the end of the service, the room is completely dark.  The purpose of the service is to commemorate the betrayal, abandonment, and agony of the events of Thursday night and Friday when Jesus was betrayed by Judas, abandoned by His disciples, tried by the Jewish religious leaders, beaten by the Romans and crucified. Before the people leave the service in silence- remembering the suffering of the Savior, one candle is re-lit as a symbol of the hope that Easter Sunday is coming.  There is no closing prayer; the service is left unfinished, because the story isn't over until Easter morning where we will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection and victory over sin and death on Sunday, April 5^th at 10:00 am.

Tenebrae Service Outline:

·       Candle’s lit

·       Hymn

·       Communion

·       Tenebrae

·       Scripture reading

·       Closing Hymn

Pastor Clark Williman

Being a follower of Christ I have one priority...

From the mind of Pastor Adam...

Being a parent forces you to focus on priorities.   Every moment of every day is limited.  And this is especially true when your kids are still quite little.  You blink and another year has passed.  Just the other day, my wife and I had lost track of the time and realized that we were about an hour behind on starting the bedtime routine.  Clearly this made for a relaxed evening of well-behaved children……

Success means knowing what is and isn’t important and not compromising on getting those most important priorities accomplished.  It is easy to get distracted by the non-essentials and miss out on key moments.  A five year old needs to learn to pick up their own room, but it is more important that they know they are loved than they have a clean room.  And it is vital that they don’t confuse being loved with a result of the cleanliness of their room!

Well-meaning parents will sadly sometimes miss the most important priority in what it means to be parent; Love.  Nothing else matters if your parenting isn’t driven by love.  A child who doesn’t feel like their parents instructions are coming from a place of love is a person who will grow up to be resentful of the behaviors and habits they were unfairly “forced” to have.

“If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is useless, and so is your faith” -1 Corinthians 15:14

Being a follower of Christ I have one priority.  Christ crucified and Christ risen.  As the Apostle Paul points out in 1 Corinthians, our faith begin and ends with the message of the Cross.  Everything else hinges on that.  It is easy to focus on the peripherals first.  What I like to call the behavior modification aspects.  But Christ didn’t come to help us behave better, but to die for our sins, defeat sin and death, and offer, through HIS finished work, hope for eternity. 

The power of whatever I do as a preacher is sourced from one place.  The unconditional love offered at the Cross.  The people in our lives don’t need a better approach to achieving some sort of “better life” goals.  They need to hear the Gospel of the Cross. 

My kids need to know that they are loved deeply before what I teach them, hold them accountable to, and expect from them, makes sense.  And they need to know that their success and/or failure at achieving these standards is not the basis of whether their daddy loves them.  The love is unconditional, which gives them the freedom and hope to get back up when they fall. 

We need to know that we are deeply loved BEFORE we are equipped to pursue the Holiness that Christ calls us to.  And the Cross tells us that this love is not dependent upon how well we are currently doing at running hard after Christ.  People change because they are loved.  They can’t change so that they can get loved.

Your kids matter to us!

My name is Carrie Pauquette. I am a mom of three beautiful children and the Director of Children's ministry at my church. I would like to share with you my vision and PASSION for our kids ministry (and your kid!) here at Calvary Evangelical Church.

Just like adults, kids need belonging and significance.

I am confident that Calvary is the place where they are going to find both. Kids want a God to belong to and a Heaven to go to. They want a peer group to belong to and a place to call home. That place will be Calvary and that God will be Jesus. They want to feel that their lives are significant RIGHT NOW, and that they have a significant future. I feel called to show them that they have significance in Christ NOW and that Christ has a significant future planned for them ALREADY.

How will they find their belonging and significance?

1. By building a foundation of basics in scripture, prayer, and worship
2. By providing a place where families worship together through creative and fun activities
3. By offering a clean, fresh, bright and happy environment at Calvary
4. By simply connecting with each child at their level

When will they find their belonging and significance?

1. When they come to Sunday School
2. When they worship, learn and have fun on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights
3. When their families participate in activities or events at Calvary
4. When their families take church home and utilize the weekly Parent Cue
5. When they participate in summer Vacation Bible School

I feel called to create a children’s ministry that focuses on the fundamental basics of following Jesus by instilling the importance of memorizing scripture, being in God’s Word, being in constant conversation with Jesus, learning how to worship the Lord in authentic and creative expression and connecting with Jesus and others on a very real level. I genuinely want to show each child that walks through the doors of Calvary that not only do they belong to Christ and have significance in Him, but also that they are a significant part of Calvary Kids Ministry and that they belong here.

I hope to see your kids (and you!) at church soon!

Carrie Pauquette