Journey to Resurrection

I’ve spent the last several weeks working with the team figuring out how to do Holy Week this year on zoom. I love the journey of Holy Week. I love the embodied experiences that all the worship services of Holy Week provide for us. From the jubilant palm procession on Palm Sunday, to the foot-washing and Holy Supper of Maundy Thursday, to the enclosing darkness of the Tenebrae service of Good Friday, to the joyous shouts of “Alleluia!” on Easter morning, these worship rituals embed us physically and emotionally to the ongoing story of redemption which is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. More so than any other time of the year, we get to experience this story with all of our senses during Holy Week. Patiently, although sometimes uncomfortably, we hear the whole story unfold, somewhat in real time. We walk the journey with Jesus and the disciples and join them in the upper room on Thursday, stand at the foot of the cross on Friday, mourn outside of the tomb on Saturday and experience the elation of resurrection on Sunday.
Of course, this year it won’t be the same as years past when we were able to get together in person, but the worship services of Holy Week this year will include some unique ideas (and I won’t say too much here…don’t want to spill all the beans) and the team: Liesl, David, the choir, the tech team are all working hard to make them special and meaningful in their own way. The schedule of Holy Week services is included in this newsletter. Please plan on attending.
As I ponder the journey through Lent, it occurs to me that our Lenten journey this year is also coinciding with our continuing journey through this pandemic as well as our congregation’s journey through revitalization. With vaccines rolling out, it seems like the end is in sight and yet, we need to continue to do what we can to protect and care for our neighbors until the threat has been sufficiently diminished. Our Covid Response Team continues to intentionally and thoughtfully evaluate the situation and we appreciate everyone’s patience and support so that when we do reopen, it will be done safely and inclusively.
And even in the midst of the pandemic, our Coastside Pathfinder team has been hard at work pulling together mapping out the first phase of our journey of congregational revitalization and pulling together all the logistics. Now it’s time for all of CLC’s friends and members to get involved and join the journey. As you read on, you will see that there are lots of things happening in March! Please take some time to read the article and letter from the team that appear on the following pages. We’ve included a handy summary checklist listing activities, dates and links which will hopefully make it easy for you to participate and we need everyone to be involved because this is a journey we are all making together.
Blessings to you all as we journey together through Lent, through the pandemic and through revitalization trusting that our God works through resurrection.
Peace, Pastor Sue






Lenten disciplines traditionally include the giving of alms to the poor, praying and fasting. The purpose of practicing these disciplines is not to earn points with God. Rather, the purpose is to move us into a period of intentionality during which we consciously think about the choices we make, about how we spend our resources and our time, and about our relationships with God, others and all of creation. It is a time to experience a “time out,” a disruption in the routines of our daily lives and in the process, to be reoriented toward God and the way of Jesus.   
It was just over a year ago when the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in the US. Since then all of our lives have been disrupted to varying degrees. We’ve spent the year sheltering in place, cutoff and isolated from each other; each in our own social bubble or cocoon. Although we still have many hurdles to clear in getting this virus under control, now, finally, as the vaccine begins to be rolled out, we can dare to begin looking forward to the time when we can break out and venture into the world once again; we can begin to ask the questions of how have we been transformed by what we’ve experienced and who we will be (as individuals, as a church and as a society) when we emerge.
When I think of all of us eventually emerging from our social bubbles, I can’t help but think of   butterflies breaking forth from their chrysalises and filling the sky with beauty, movement and life. The butterfly has long been a symbol of resurrection and Easter, and the three stages of the butterfly’s life cycle symbolic of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and the life into which we are baptized. As we enter this season of Lent, let us use this time as a period of intentionality in the middle of this great period of disruption to examine our lives, our church and our world, and seek the transformations that will lead to the renewal of life that baptism calls forth.