What is Holy Week?

Holy Week is the week leading up to Easter, which is the celebration of Jesus's resurrection.

The week begins with a re-enacted parade as we wave palms and welcome Jesus on his final journey to Jerusalem.

On Maundy Thursday, we gather at tables and remember Jesus's last meal with his disciples.

We stare death in the face together on Good Friday when we remember Jesus's execution.

And we kindle a small flame of new hope in the midst of darkness on Holy Saturday.

​Easter morning we go all out - celebrating the God-of-Eternal-Do-Overs in grand style. 

Easter is Sunday, April 17.

Join us for a celebratory Easter morning! At 9:30 a.m. we'll have a potluck breakfast in our fellowship hall. Bring your favorite breakfast food to share and we'll have the coffee ready for you. Please bring your own table service to help us care for the environment and simplify clean up.  

Easter worship is at 10:45 a.m. in our sanctuary or via Zoom. We'll have special music with our brass ensemble and our tradition of flowering the cross will return this year. We encourage you to arrive EARLY to enjoy music from the brass beginning around 10:30 a.m. Plan to stick around for the Kids' Easter Egg Hunt immediately after the service. | Click to Zoom for worship or call 1-669-900-6833 and dial meeting ID 899 1685 3476# at the prompt. Meeting password is 66502. Please note: long distance charges may apply if you use the call-in option. 

Lenten Continual Prayer Vigil, April 8-9

Click for details and sign up. 


ZOOM PRAYER VIGIL ZOOM OPTION:
If you'd like to come to the Lenten Prayer Vigil via Zoom, we will have a silent Zoom room of our sanctuary open from 3:00-4:00 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday). Just use the regular worship Zoom login at uccmanhattan.org/online to join us. No need to sign up. ​

Palm Sunday
​April 10

We will gather with friends from other downtown churches at 9:30 a.m. in City Park (south shelter) for a Palm Parade. Join us for singing a couple songs and sharing a brief prayer together before we walk/roll/drive down Poyntz waving our palms. 

We will also have our palm processional during worship, of course! 

There will NOT be children's Sunday School on Palm Sunday but there WILL be adult Sunday School.

ONLINE OPTION: Join us for Adult Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. and/or Palm Sunday worship at 1045 a.m. via Zoom. You'll find the Zoom links here. 

If you need to pick up a palm BEFORE Palm Sunday (if you're worshiping at home) you can come by the church on any time on Friday or Saturday, April 8-9. We will have the palms in a rubbermaid bin located just outside the office doors.

Maundy Thursday
​April 14

“Maundy” comes from the same root as “mandate” and this holy day is the day we remember Jesus’s commandment to love and serve one another. There are two options for Maundy Thursday worship this year: join us at Long’s Park at 7:00 p.m. for a simple service that will include Holy Communion and the option to participate in a ritual foot-washing service (only for those who choose to do so).

ONLINE OPTION: If you aren’t able to join us in the park, we are also providing an at-home liturgy with links to music, videos, and recipes so you can create your own remembrance of this Holy Day at home with family, friends, or on your own. ​

Good Friday
​April 15, Noon-1pm

Join us over the noon hour on Good Friday, April 15 in our Sanctuary. We will have organ music from 12:00-12:20 p.m., Pastor Caela will hold silence and read some scripture from 12:20-12:40 p.m., and then we’ll have more organ music from 12:40-1:00 p.m. Set aside five minutes or the whole hour to mark this day.

ONLINE OPTION: login to the regular worship Zoom (link here) anytime between 12-1pm to join us. 

Walking Through Holy Week (for all ages)

LOCATION CHANGE DUE TO WEATHER: Join us at the church building instead of Tuttle Creek.

​We have two options for Holy Saturday evening and hope people of all ages can join us for both! Last year when we had to move many Lent and Easter activities outside we created a Walking Through Holy Week station activity to help bring meaning to the Lenten season for our children. This year we would like to extend an invitation to everyone to experience it. The stations will take you through stations representing the life of Jesus, leading up to the crucifixion. This year the activity will take place starting at 7:00 pm before the Holy Saturday Pascal Candle lighting at Tuttle Creek Overlook. We will send groups through in 15 minute increments. As groups finish, we will have an opportunity for fellowship (and goodies!) as we wait for the service to start at 8:05. If you have any questions, or if you’d like to help with the event, please let Brandy know. 

Holy Saturday Paschal Fire Lighting
April 16. 8:05pm

LOCATION CHANGE DUE TO WEATHER: Join us at the church building instead of Tuttle Creek.

​At 8:05 p.m. we will have a brief service at Tuttle Creek Overlook and kindle our Paschal Fire together. This is our take on the ancient tradition of the Easter Vigil, where we gather in the darkness of night, light a new fire, and prepare for the joy of Easter morning. We are grateful to the Ministry of the Decorative Scissors for making our Paschal Candle. Please bring a lawn chair for this service.

Directions: From Manhattan, take Tuttle Creek Blvd. (US 24) north approximately 5 miles. Turn right onto K-13 Hwy towards the dam. Take the first left onto Tuttle Cove Road, then an immediate right into Observation Point. We will gather in the parking lot at the top of the hill. View Google Map.

ONLINE OPTION: We will share a pre-recorded Paschal Fire lighting on our Facebook page at 8:05 p.m. or you can watch anytime on YouTube here.