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Holy Week events are available online

Simple love feast meal, by photographer Phil Grout

Church of the Brethren events are offered online during this Holy Week. They include congregations that are holding love feast and Easter Sunday worship services online; a love feast coordinated by the Office of Ministry to be streamed live on Thursday, April 9, at 8 p.m. (Eastern time) with pre-service music starting at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern); a Dunker Punks virtual love feast pre-recorded and available for viewing and listening at any time; a Good Friday Tenebrae “Service of Shadows” video; a chat app with virtual footwashing; and a how-to video  for making traditional Church of the Brethren communion bread.

More information is below and at a resource page at www.brethren.org/messenger/articles/2020/lovefeast-2020 . Find a listing of congregations offering online worship at www.brethren.org/news/2020/church-of-the-brethren-congregations-worship-online .

Love feast coordinated by the Office of Ministry

A live-streamed love feast service on Thursday, April 9, at 8 p.m. (Eastern time) with pre-service music starting at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern) is coordinated by the Office of Ministry. In an invitation, Office of Ministry director Nancy Sollenberger Heishman said the service “is one that you can join in as a single person or together with others gathered in your living room. Members of your congregation may wish to view the service at the same time from your separate homes, either as a way to share the love feast with others, or even in addition to your own congregation’s virtual worship on Maundy Thursday, if you have one already planned.”

The service will feature leaders from across the denomination including present and past officers of Annual Conference, district executives, standing committee members, Bethany Seminary faculty, pastors, and church members from various congregations. Participants include, among others, Denise Kettering-Lane, Frank Ramirez, Josh Brockway, Thomas Dowdy, Pete Kontra, Sandy Bosserman, Janet Elsea, Earl Ziegler, Jose Otero, Mikayla Alphonse, and Paul Mundey. Enten Eller will host the service with the online platform offered by Living Stream Church of the Brethren. Recorded music will be from past Annual Conferences as well as traditional hymns and newer offerings recorded in recent days.

The event will take place live and a recording will be available immediately following the service. Go to www.brethren.org/lovefeast2020 .

Dunker Punks virtual love feast

“The Dunker Punks invite anyone and everyone to listen to our Virtual Love Feast on Maundy Thursday or whenever,” said an invitation to view and listen to the pre-recorded event now available across multiple platforms (YouTube, iTunes, Stitcher), all accessed easily by visiting www.virtuallovefeast.com .

“Social distancing may keep us from literally recreating the way Jesus taught that night, but there’s no formula for repeating Jesus’ lesson,” said the announcement. “The Dunker Punks Podcast is leaning into creative uses of technology to continue to connect people during the sacred time of Holy Week.”

The virtual love feast includes contributions from lay leaders, pastors, National Youth Cabinet members, On Earth Peace staff, and Bethany Seminary professors, totaling 20 voices in all. Many have served previously as worship leaders or speakers at Annual Conference.

“There is certain to be a voice for every listener to connect with,” the announcement continued. “Love feast is about overcoming what keeps us from wholeness and renewing our commitment to follow Jesus’ loving example. This special Dunker Punks episode of Virtual Love Feast already posted online offers one to carry on the tradition that has shaped our lives to serve in love.” Go to www.virtuallovefeast.com .

Good Friday Tenebrae Service of Shadows

In this moving video of a “Service of Shadows,” prepared for Good Friday this year, viewers participate in a Tenebrae service modeled after one that has been a tradition for Creekside Church of the Brethren in Indiana. “Hear Good Friday scriptures read as candles go out, leaving us in the darkness that (for a time) follows the crucifixion of Jesus,” said an invitation. “This simple, meditative piece can be appreciated by both congregations and individuals.”

Created by a team led by Creekside pastor Rosanna Eller McFadden, the video is published by Brethren Press. Find it at www.brethren.org/tenebrae .

Also available:

A chat app with virtual footwashing thanks to Michael Shearer and Annville Church of the Brethren in Pennsylvania. Go to www.LoveFeastTogether.org and find a video explainer at https://youtu.be/H3fdreJHZTY .

A video showing how to make traditional Church of the Brethren communion bread with Katie Heishman, co-pastor at Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren in Ohio. Find it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHmbss1PKt0&feature=emb_logo .

Find the resources page at www.brethren.org/messenger/articles/2020/lovefeast-2020 .

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