Worship With Us

this Holy Week and Easter

Holy Saturday, April 3, 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.

The Great Vigil of Easter

The Services of Light, the Word, Baptism, Communion

On Holy Saturday worshipers gather in the Great Hall for the beginning of what is called the Easter Vigil.  The sanctuary is still dark.  Worshipers enter in silence, lighting candles, until the room is filled with light and the first proclamation of the resurrection is heard.  From ancient times, this was the time that new Christians were baptized, and we follow that tradition. All are invited to reaffirm our own baptismal covenant.  Worshipers come forward, if they wish, for a laying on of hands from the ministers, and a blessing.  We also celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  Unlike the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox traditions in which an Easter Vigil goes for hours (often ending at midnight), Immanuel does an abbreviated form, starting at 7:30 and usually ending around 9:00.