Holy Week & Easter with Church of the Apostles

Holy Week and Easter are considered pivotal events in the Christian faith. Holy Week is the week leading up to Easter, remembering Jesus’ final days before his crucifixion and resurrection, and Easter celebrates that resurrection – the foundation of the Christian faith.

Church of the Apostles, an Anglican church in Northern Virginia, is offering Holy Week and Easter events that are open to the community. The Maundy Thursday event, a Messianic Passover Seder, is especially historic and cultural in nature. A Messianic Seder Meal includes special foods that help retell the story of the Israelites’ journey to freedom as told in the book of Exodus, and reveals the Christian understanding of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Passover. The Messianic Seder Meal will be held on Thursday, March 24, beginning at 6:30pm at Eagle View Elementary School, 4500 Dixie Hill Rd, Fairfax. To help them prepare, you are asked to RSVP at www.ChurchoftheApostles.org/special-events. A $5 donation is requested to help cover the cost of the meal ($20 max per family), and you are welcome to bring a fruit, vegetable, or dessert plate to share. (If you have questions about the Messianic Passover Seder, feel free to contact Kristin Colligan at KColligan@ChurchoftheApostles.org.)

Good Friday is a remembrance of the day that Jesus was crucified. Apostles’ Good Friday service will be held Friday, March 25, 7:00pm at Eagle View Elementary School. Their service will be based on the verse in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." They explain the focus of the service in this way, “We are all invited . . . all of us who are lonely, those who feel abandoned, those who suffer in dark places of depression and anxiety, those who struggle with addiction and sins that keep coming back, those who have been wounded by abuse . . . all of us who are broken. We are all invited to come to the cross where Jesus suffered in every way that we do and died so that we can be restored.” Through music, scripture, dance, and drama, the service will offer an opportunity for healing and wholeness.

For centuries, Christians have begun their Easter celebrations with an Easter Vigil, held sometime between sunset on the evening before Easter Sunday and sunrise on Easter morning. Church of the Apostles will hold an Easter Vigil on Saturday, March 26, beginning at 8:00pm at Eagle View Elementary School. This will be a joint service between Church of the Apostles and Apostles at Mason, a ministry on the campus of George Mason University. The Right Reverend John Guernsey, bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, will be the guest preacher and celebrant at this service.

Christians believe that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is what confirms their faith in Him as the Son of God, and therefore Easter Sunday is an especially joyful expression of this. Church of the Apostles will return to Eagle View Elementary School for a grand celebration on Sunday, March 27, beginning at 10:00am. The gathering will include music, scripture, worship, and Communion. They look forward to joining with Christians around the world as they celebrate this special day of the Christian calendar, and invite the community to join them.

If you would like more information on Church of the Apostles and their Holy Week and Easter services, you may go to www.ChurchoftheApostles.org.