* * Special Services NMCC Offers - Details to Follow Closer to Date * *
Longest Night Service: The Longest Night Service is held at the time of the Winter Solstice (December 21st) and recognizes that, in what is generally considered a joyous time of the year, many people experience sadness, melancholy and depression. It may be due to the cold and loneliness of winter, the memories of a lost loved one, the reflection on life’s challenges or the concern over a friend or family member. This service provides a safe place to express and attend to that sadness through meditation, readings, music in a quiet candle lit atmosphere at the front of the sanctuary. The service ends with the offering for anyone to come to light a candle and express out loud or in silence the dedication.
Children’s Christmas Pageant: The Children’s Christmas Pageant is incorporated into the Sunday morning service, re-enacting the story of Jesus’ birth.
Family Christmas Service: This family-friendly service has a focus on Gospel readings about Jesus’ birth, and many traditional Christmas Carols.
Candlelight Communion Service: This evening service includes readings, Christmas hymns, and communion and concludes with the lighting of candles given to each worshiper as they leave the church and assemble on the lawn in front of the crèche to sing Silent Night (weather permitting) or within the warmth of the sanctuary.
Ash Wednesday: Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent with a reflective Ash Wednesday worship service that inspires us to consider the meaning of our lives and call us to recommit to our own personal spiritual growth during the days leading up to Holy Week and Easter.
Palm Sunday – 10:00 AM Worship service: This special service celebrates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem which begins with our children leading us in a procession waving palms, followed by an inspired performance by our choir. This year the choir will sing Fauré’s Requiem in D Minor accompanied by organ and an ensemble of strings. Composed by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) between the years of 1887 and 1890, the Requiem is a work in 7 movements, featuring two soloists and chorus. The “requiem” – a traditional solemn liturgy – has inspired many composers, most notably Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi and Fauré. Other composers (Brahms, Britten) have used the term “requiem” without the traditional text. Fauré’s Requiem is unique. The anguish of Death and Judgment Day are omitted; instead Fauré concentrates on the true meaning of the word “requiem”, meaning “rest” His Requiem is about peaceful acceptance and release and his music is serene, elevating and comforting.
Join us for worship, the distribution of palms and the sharing of exquisite music.
Maundy Thursday Fellowship Supper and Service of Remembrance – 6:00 PM: Join in our family-friendly potluck supper and service of remembrance this Holy Thursday. We remember the Lord’s Last Supper and his prayers in the garden for guidance and strength. We will share communion and a service that celebrate the events of the Last Supper in manner of the first century church. Before there were churches and long rituals, the ‘Lord’s Supper’ was simply done in the homes of the faithful. Everyone would gather for a ‘pot luck’ supper. During the meal, they would share their thoughts/experiences as followers of Jesus. When everyone had eaten, they would come together for prayer and share bread and wine repeating the words of Jesus as recorded in our Scriptures. At this table of fellowship and communion, they experienced forgiveness for sins, healing for their brokenness, and shared love which they could bring to the world.
Service of Tenebrae on Good Friday – 7:00 PM: In this Tenebrae (Latin for “Shadows”) Service, the most somber day of the Christian calendar, we follow Jesus from the prison all the way to the cross. This deeply moving service of lessons and hymns, accompanied by the encroaching darkness, recalls the trial and death of Jesus our Christ. We begin with light and music, and we end in silence and darkness. We invite you to linger in the darkness of the sanctuary, aware of your many feelings and thoughts as you contemplate the meanings of the death of Jesus, mourning the loss and considering all that it means for the hope of the world and the transformation of your life.
Prayer Vigil – Good Friday 8:00 PM through 6:00 AM, Easter Sunday: Our Prayer Vigil begins after the Tenebrae service. You are invited to spend an hour praying in our sanctuary which is open all weekend until early Easter Sunday. To ensure continuous coverage throughout the Vigil, we encourage you to sign up in Fellowship Hall for a specific time to experience the quiet peace of the sanctuary.
Easter Dawn Service – 6:00 AM: This special simple service recalls the gift of life eternal. It is held (weather permitting) at the NMCC Cemetery where all can experience the quiet beauty nature offers, while celebrating the Resurrection of Christ with music, readings and prayer. The cemetery is located less than a mile on the right on Route 80, east of the 79/80 Circle, just before Summer Hill Road.
Easter Sunday Service – 10:00 AM: Join us in this communion service of celebration and the hope of everlasting life. The triumph of the Christian story is celebrated in this Festival of the Resurrection, characterized by a sanctuary filled with beautiful flowers, joyous music, inspired scripture and a special message to give God thanks for showering us with blessings.
These truly are wonderful worship events that will nurture your soul.
