Good Friday
Friday, March 29, 2024
Today is the day of sorrows. With our altars and our hearts stripped bare, we confront the story of Jesus’ death on a cross. That cross was, and is, a place of desolation, where all hope seems lost. We know that this is not the end of the story, but we must not rush ahead to Easter without first standing at this intersection of life and death, hope and despair.
This solemn liturgy centers on the Passion narrative from John’s gospel. As powerful as that account is, its scapegoating of the Jewish religious leaders (as opposed to Pilate and the Roman authorities) has contributed to centuries of antisemitism. Amended prayers – known as the Solemn Collects – seek to address this history in today’s liturgy. Written by the Rev. Dan Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, a professor at the Seminary of the Southwest, these collects are approved for trial use in the Episcopal Church.
Services
8:10 a.m., Morning Prayer (Livestream will be here)
Noon, The Liturgy for Good Friday; this service from the Book of Common Prayer includes prayers, hymns, the reading of the Passion Gospel, and a homily; there is no Communion at this service. Here's the service bulletin. (Livestream will be here)
Stations of the Cross Our Stations of the Cross service is a local adaptation of a custom observed by pilgrims to Jerusalem: the offering of prayer at a series of places traditionally associated with our Lord’s passion and death.
The stations will be placed throughout the nave (the church), in the form of 14 framed prints by Laura James, a renowned, self-taught artist whose sacred art draws on the rich tradition of Ethiopian iconography. You may share in this meditative experience on Good Friday following the Liturgy for Good Friday (which begins at noon and lasts about an hour and 15 minutes) either on a self-guided tour using prayer booklets we will provide, or on a guided tour (at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.).
Musical offering This year, as part of our Good Friday observance, St. Stephen's musicians and Sanctuary (our Compline choir) will provide a program of sacred music beginning at 4 p.m. in the church. Here is the program.
Please note that the parish office will close at noon on Good Friday and reopen on Tuesday, April 2.