Advent & Christmas
Advent Worship
The season of Advent (the four Sundays prior to Christmas) is a
festive time at Westminster. Seasonal themes and wonderful music
are part of what makes this season unique. In addition, the whole
church is decorated for the holidays and special programs make
Advent a delightful and meaningful time in the life of our
church.
Christmas Eve – December 24
The afternoon 4:00
p.m. children’s and
families’ worship service is an
informal worship experience, led by child readers and youth choirs,
telling the story of Jesus’ birth with
a Christmas tableau with church school students.
The traditional Christmas Eve Candlelight Services at 8:00 and
10:00 p.m. feature the Westminster organ and Adult Choir, lessons
of Scripture recounting the history of salvation, and a brief
sermon by the pastor.
Lent, Holy Week & Easter
Ash Wednesday
Services are held at noon and 6:30 p.m. to mark the beginning
of the season of Lent.
Wednesdays in Lent
- Noon worship in the Sanctuary. A thirty-minute service of quiet
reflection and music following the Lenten theme.
- Wednesday night Lenten Program. Westminster offers an evening
Lenten Series, starting with dinner in the Refectory at 5:30. A
child-oriented service for families is held from 6:15-6:30 p.m. in
nearby rooms. A Taizé-style prayer service is held in the
Great Hall from 6:30-7:00 p.m. Adult educational programs generally
run from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Each Lent
there is a theme woven into worship and other programs.
Palm Sunday
Our worship on Palm Sunday (8:30 and 10:30a.m.) includes special
music by our children’s and youth
choirs. Holy Week begins with this service, which marks
Jesus’ return to Jerusalem. The
service conveys both the triumphant entry and the shadow of the
Passion.
Maundy Thursday
- Noon communion service in the Chapel.
- The 7:00 p.m. service will be a Communion Tenebrae in the
Sanctuary. The lessons of Scripture, followed by silent reflection
and by the unadorned breaking of the bread and pouring of the cup
in darkness, underscore the solemnity of the night of
Christ’s betrayal.
Good Friday
The Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches sponsors a noon
Tenebrae service in the Westminster sanctuary, with dramatic
readings from the passion narrative and music by the Westminster
Choir.
Easter Services
Festival worship services on Easter begin at 9:00 and 11:00a.m.
Easter offers special music by the Westminster Choir with the
addition of a brass section.
Macalester Sunday
The Sunday following Easter, known as
“low
Sunday” in most churches because of
the post-Easter drop in attendance, is anything but low at
Westminster. The Macalester Choir, Macalester Bagpipes, and college
president join Westminster clergy in leading the service.
Westminster and Macalester – a
Presbyterian-related college – have
enjoyed a close relationship since the
college’s founding.
