As we celebrate this Fourth Sunday of Lent, we realize that we are now more than halfway through this season. Believe it or not, in two weeks we will gather to celebrate Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, the most sacred time of our Church Year. This year we are adding services to our Holy Week worship schedule. In particular, we will celebrate the Office of Tenebrae on Tuesday evening of Holy Week; and on Good Friday, in addition to our Prayer Book service, we will celebrate the Service of the Seven Last Words and the Stations of the Cross. I encourage you to take home a copy of this week’s bulletin, which includes our Holy Week and Easter schedule. Be sure to share our worship opportunities with family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. Holy Week and Easter is an ideal time to invite others to share in the transforming grace we celebrate in worship here at St. Paul’s.
Speaking of transforming grace, I’m very proud of our Youth and Family Ministry, who will join other parishes in south Palm Beach County on a mission trip to Marathon to help with the on-going hurricane recovery effort there. In particular, our youth will be helping 18 families who are living in trailers on the campus of St. Columba and nearby family homes under construction. One great way to join in this effort and support our youth is through donating $25 Publix gift cards. These gift cards will be part of gift bags that our youth are preparing for the families displaced by Hurricane Irma.
Finally, our Vestry has formed a Safety and Security Task Force to review and update the many safety measures we already have in place for our campus. The task force has been diligent in its work to ensure that our campus is as safe and secure as possible. In the Acts of St. Paul’s section of this bulletin, there is an important update from the task force.