Join us as we move through the Lenten journey and into the excitement of Easter and the promise of the Risen Christ.
Lent & Easter
Lent & EASTEr
Worship Opportunities and Events are listed below. All are welcome.
-
Palm & Passion Sunday
April 13, 2025
9:00 AM & 10:30 AM
Commemorate both the triumphant arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem, and the turn the crowd takes that will lead to the crucifixion. Both 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM worship services will include communion; the 10:30 AM service also includes music from the Joyful Ringers bell ensemble. The 10:30 service will also be viewable through our livestream - Worship at Home (click here!).
-
Maundy Thursday
April 17, 2025
7:30 PM
Featuring the Sanctuary Choir and Chamber Orchestra with Harp
In-person in the Sanctuary
Livestreaming at stpaulsk.org/worship/worship-at-home
Join Music Director N. Thomas Pedersen, our Sanctuary Choir, and a chamber orchestra with harp and strings for this special Maundy Thursday worship service featuring The Solemn Shadows, a new musical work with biblical narration. The shadows of Holy Week invite us to pause and reflect on the sacrifice of Christ's work of grace. This thoughtful choral cantata is fashioned after Tenebrae (a service of shadows) and is designed for deep spiritual introspection. The work features original music as well as time-honored hymnody as we follow a journey of tears and passion. The music is approachable and reserved, keeping in character with this somber theme. The message is bittersweet, reminding us to hold onto hope in the calm assurance that the cross and tomb are not the end.
-
Good Friday
Friday, April 18, 2025
7:30 PM
In-person in the Sanctuary
Livestreaming at stpaulsk.org/worship/worship-at-home
Good Friday, also sometimes called Black Friday or Holy Friday, commemorates the crucifixion and death of Christ. The service will be somber and reflective, and features music selected by organist Marvin Mills. Worship in-person in the the Sanctuary or visit the Worship at Home page for the livestream.
-
Easter Sunday
April 20, 2025
6:30 AM - First Service of Easter - sunrise worship outdoors
9:00 AM - in-person in the Sanctuary at St. Paul's
10:30 AM - in-person in the Sanctuary at St. Paul's and livestreaming
Celebrate the message of hope made alive in the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
The First Service of Easter will be held outdoors in the garden-like setting of Clum-Kennedy Park at 6:30 AM to correspond closely with sunrise. Parking is available between Johnson's flowers and Old Town Market on Kensington Parkway. As with our outdoor services in the past, please plan to bring your own chairs and dress comfortably for whatever the weather might bring.
Easter Worship in the Sanctuary. Both the 9:00 AM & 10:30 AM services will be held in the Sanctuary of St. Paul's UMC at 10401 Armory Avenue, and will include the Sanctuary Choir and brass. The children's Easter Egg Hunt will follow the 10:30 service - please read more below.
The 10:30 service will also be livestreamed for those who prefer to worship at home. You will be able to find the video and a downloadable *pdf of the worship bulletin on our Worship at Home page.
-
Easter Eggstravaganza
Children in 5th grade and younger will have an opportunity to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt following the 10:30 AM worship service on Easter Sunday. Children should bring their own basket or bag. Children will gather for coloring activities and will be called to Reinhardt Park (immediately across from St. Paul's front doors) by age group.
If you can assist with the Egg Hunt, please contact Minister of Spiritual Care and Formation, Dr. Meg Baker at mbaker@stpaulsk.org or 301-933-7933 ext 104. Donations of stuffed plastic eggs (no nuts or chocolate, please!) are very welcome, and can be placed in the box in the main office beginning March 30.
Stations of the Cross 2025
Open April 14-18, 2025
11:00 AM-1:00 PM and 5:00-7:00 PM
During Holy Week, St. Paul's hosts a themed Stations of the Cross experience, with each station sponsored by a church group, family, or individual.
Traditionally, the Stations of the Cross are a series of Scriptures which tell the story of the last days of Jesus Christ and the crucifixion. Our modern program honors the ancient story of Jesus’ earthly journey and death while recognizing the ways this narrative speaks to us and issues of our world today. Even though we know that death does not have the final word and resurrection is coming, this is a practice that gives us an opportunity to reflect and repent.
This self-guided experience will be open in the Octagon during Holy Week, Monday-Friday, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM and 5:00-7:00 PM. Multiple interactive stations invite reflection and repentance.
The space between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is worth lingering in, now more than ever. As society becomes increasingly polarized, Holy Week challenges the dichotomies that divide humanity into categories like powerful and powerless, enemy and friend, innocent and guilty, "us" and "them." As violence continues to be the favored tool of many nations, Good Friday exposes the injustice of punitive "justice." And as COVID and climate change continue to wreak havoc across the planet, this sacred time lets us practice sitting with and protesting our own and others' pain. These stations are designed to give participants a chance to engage in that practice through Communion and prayer, meditative Taizé songs, imaginative monologues and an embodied expression of grief.
For 2025, stations feature these stories:
An Introductory station
The preparation of the Passover (Luke 22:7-13)
The dispute about greatness (Luke 22:24-27)
Simon of Cyrene (Luke 23-20-27)
The criminal at the cross (Luke 23-39-43)
Jesus dies on the cross (Luke 23:44-46, 48)
To learn more or to volunteer, contact Dr. Meg Baker (mbaker@stpaulsk.org, 301-933-7933 ext. 104).
Egg My Yard
How would you like to wake up to a yard filled with candy-stuffed eggs from the Easter Bunny? We can make it happen! Please sign up soon so we can plan our efforts accordingly. Proceeds from the Egg My Yard Fundraiser for 2025 will support St. Paul's Youth activities.
30 eggs = $25
50 eggs = $45
70 eggs = $75
Click this button to go to the Egg My Yard sign-up form for 2025!
Sign up deadline: Monday, April 14, 2025.
You must live in the Kensington/Rockville/Silver Spring area. Feel free to share this with friends and neighbors!
Easter eggs will be delivered either Friday or Saturday night before Easter (based on your preference).
After we receive your form, one of our parent volunteer will reach out to confirm and provide the instructions for making your contribution through our secure giving process at stpaulsk.org/giving.
Easter Offerings
God has blessed the ministries of this church and has allowed us a vision that looks far beyond our own Sanctuary to see people and places in need. Each year, we dedicate 100% of our Easter Special Offering to serve those outside the walls of St. Paul's.
St. Paul's leaders serving in the Simplified Accountability Model determine which organizations benefit from the Easter Special Offering donations. For 2025, the Easter Offering will be divided between UMCOR - Area of Greatest Need for national and international disaster relief efforts, and the Shelter Meals program where we provide weekly meals for Interfaith Works shelters helping the unhoused in Montgomery County.
To donate online by credit card, click the button to go to our secure payment portal.
Donations by cash or check may be sent to St. Paul's by mail (St. Paul's UMC, 10401 Armory Avenue, Kensington MD 20895) or drop-off any time using the office door mail slot. Checks should be made payable to "St. Paul’s UMC" with the words “Easter Offering” on the memo line. Special offering envelopes will be available in the worship bulletins for Easter Sunday.
Please note, all other offerings or donations, such as those toward regular giving or pledges, should be made using an envelope other than the Easter Offering envelope. Thank you!
Easter Lily ORders
St. Paul’s Sanctuary will have Easter lilies this year. Lily sponsors may make a dedication, in memory or honor of loved ones, which will be shared in our commemorative Lily Bulletin. The cost per plant is $20.
Online ordering using a credit card is available March 16 - April 14. Click the button to go to our secure online order form.
In-person ordering using cash or check will be available through our Lily Volunteers in the Narthex between worship services on March 30 and April 6 & 13.
Sponsors may take home their plants following the 10:30 a.m. worship service on Easter, April 20, 2025, or during office hours starting April 22-24. (Please note, the church office is closed on Easter Monday, April 21.)