Lent, Holy Week, and Easter 2026
Truth-Telling, Lament, and Return
Palm Sunday – March 29, Rev. Jordan Parker preaching
The Long Way to Jerusalem – Luke
Luke tells of a Jesus who chooses compassion over control. How do we follow a path that redefines power? What kind of power does Jesus refuse? And what kind does he embody instead?
Maundy Thursday – April 2, 5:30pm
Remembering Jesus’ final meal with his disciples and his new commandment: “You shall love one another as I have loved you.” We will begin with a light dinner and end with a contemplative walk through the labyrinth.
Good Friday – April 3, 7pm
Join us for a traditional meditative service in the sanctuary. The AHCC Sanctuary Choir will present the Herbert Howells Requiem, and Rev. Erica Thompson will bring a spoken meditation.
About the musical work: Written in 1932, it is set for unaccompanied choir and soloists. Rather than have it performed, Howells tucked the work away in his desk. In September 1935 his world was abruptly shattered when his nine-year-old son Michael contracted polio during a family holiday, dying in London three days later. At the suggestion of his daughter Ursula, Howells sought to channel his grief into music, and over the course of the next three years composed much of the large-scale choral work which was eventually to become Hymnus Paradisi, drawing on material from the unpublished Requiem. This new work remained, in Howells’ words, “a personal, almost secret document” until it was first performed in1950. However, the original a cappella Requiem remained unpublished and unperformed until 1980, when the BBC Singers gave the premiere performance, just three years before Howells death.
Easter Sunday, April 5, 6:15am Sunrise Service, Elizabeth Park Overlook (corner of Prospect and Asylum Avenue)
Scripture says that on the third day a group of women arrived at the tomb while it was still dark. Celebrating the resurrection of Christ we gather to watch the sunrise over the horizon and proclaim the Good News that indeed, He Lives!
Easter Sunday, April 5, 10am, Rev. Erica Thompson
Nothing Is Finished – Mark
Mark’s resurrection story is startling and unfinished. Easter invites us into a future still unfolding, where fear is not the final word. What if resurrection is not an ending, but a beginning that unsettles everything?
Lent arrives this year not as an abstract season, but as a deeply needed one.
Many of us come into this season carrying more than we expected—grief we haven’t fully named, worry about the world and those we love, weariness that lingers beneath the surface. We carry questions about truth—who speaks it, who pays the price for it, and how we remain faithful when hope itself can sound unsettling or disruptive.
This Lent, our worship will make room for all of that.
Beginning on Ash Wednesday and moving toward Easter morning, we will walk together through a season shaped by truth-telling, lament, and return. Through the voices of the prophets and the Gospel story, we will listen for a faith that is honest enough to grieve, brave enough to tell the truth, and tender enough to trust a love that does not give up on us.
We will hear Jeremiah wrestle with the cost of speaking what must be said. We will sit with Lamentations and allow grief to be spoken without being rushed toward resolution. Hosea will invite us to imagine a love that remains even when we fall short. And as we follow Jesus toward Jerusalem, we will reflect on a way of living and loving that chooses compassion over control.
This is not a Lent about getting it right or having it all figured out. It is a season for telling the truth about our lives and our world, for honoring what has been lost, and for returning—again and again—to the God who meets us with patience and care.
And gently, quietly, this is where hope takes root. Not as a quick answer or an easy fix, but as a promise that we are not abandoned in the midst of what is broken. The God we trust listens when we lament, stays close when the road feels heavy, and keeps holding open a future shaped by grace. Resurrection does not rush us past the hard parts—but it assures us that love, not fear, has the final word.
Wherever this season finds you—tired or hopeful, steady or unsure—you are welcome here. Come as you are. Come walk the road with us. Come trusting that even now, God is still at work, and we are held every step of the way.
Ash Wednesday – February 18, 7pm, Rev. Jordan Parker preaching
All are welcome as we mark the beginning of Lent, the season of preparation leading us to Easter. Ash Wednesday acknowledges and emphasizes that we have come from dust and will return to dust someday. This truth is the great connector for all of humanity. So, we gather each year on Ash Wednesday to remember our mortality in community and look forward to Christ’s resurrection and triumph over death at the end of Lent. This contemplative service will include communion, music and the imposition of ashes. In-person and livestream.
Lent 1 – February 22, Rev. Erica Thompson preaching
90% Cacao – Ruth
Ruth 1 reminds us that faith is not the absence of bitterness but the courage to bring our whole truth before God. Like 90% cacao – rich, sharp, and not immediately sweet – Naomi’s story invites us to resist numbing the hard parts of life and instead trust that God can hold every honest emotion. Only by staying present to the bitter can we discover that, in time, God is already at work preparing a deeper joy.
Lent 2 – March 1, Rev. Lara Franklin preaching
The Cost of Telling the Truth – Jeremiah
Jeremiah shows us a prophet who grieves what must be said. What faithfulness is required when hope sounds like dissent? What is faithful resistance when hope sounds like troublemaking?
Lent 3 – March 8, Rev. Erica Thompson preaching
Grief Has a Voice – Lamentations
Lamentations refuses to rush past devastation – how naming loss can be a faithful and healing act. What healing becomes possible when we stop rushing past loss?
Lent 4 – March 15, Rev. Erica Thompson preaching
Love That Won’t Walk Away – Hosea
Hosea offers a picture of love that persists through betrayal and failure. What if God’s commitment to us is stronger than our worst moments? What does it mean to trust a love more persistent than our failures?
Lent 5 – March 22, Children’s Musical “Don’t Give Up”