Lent at St. Andrew's
Explore Jesus’ dual calls to go deep and go wide in your spiritual journey.
Learning Opportunities
Trailside Thursdays in Lent
An evening of informal worship at HJ’s Youth and Community Center at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner and two class options.
Discovery: A six-week course for those new to St. Andrew’s or those who want to deepen their understanding of the Episcopal tradition. The course will discuss the history, beliefs, and practices of the Episcopal Church. RSVP to Jen Sackhoff.
Life Transformed – The Way of Love: The journey through Lent into Easter is a journey with Jesus. We are baptized into his life, self-giving, and death; then, we rise in hope to life transformed. This Lent, we’ll walk with Jesus in his Way of Love and into the experience of transformed life, reflecting on the loving actions of God as recounted in the Easter Vigil readings. Together, we’ll journey through the depths of salvation history into the fullness of redemption. RSVP to Jen Sackhoff.
Children and Families
Lent at Home boxes for families will be available at the information desk in the church entryway beginning Sunday, February 19.
Lent at Home boxes include information explaining Lent through children’s experience, ideas for family service projects, resources to study, and weekly devotions with special objects for each week. Activities for children include a Lenten coloring calendar, a Lenten prayer calendar, some coloring sheets, and a recipe for homemade pretzels (a Lenten tradition).
Youth
Youth Group Lenten Study: On Sundays from 4 to 5 p.m. at HJ’s Youth and Community Center, youth will discuss Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent, reflecting on the loving actions of God as recounted in the Easter Vigil readings.
20s & 30s
Adult
Trailside Thursdays: Worship at an informal service Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. at HJ’s Youth and Community Center, eat dinner, then join in on one of two class options – Discovery or Life Transformed: The Way of Love.
Tools for Spiritual Practice
The Good Book Club
We will be reading the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, telling the stories of God’s people returning from exile. Daily summaries come by email or text. To sign up, contact Jen Sackhoff.
Daily Prayer
A Morning at the Office – daily audio Morning Prayer from Forward Movement, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Forward Day By Day – daily reflections available in a printed pamphlet you can pick up at St. Andrew’s or as a podcast.
Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer from Mission St. Clare, with readings and music provided.
Daily Emailed Reflections
- Episcopal Relief and Development: Meditate on the commandment to love our neighbor and consider the meaning of this fundamental instruction in our daily lives.
- Reflections from renowned spiritual authors Richard Rohr or Frederick Buechner.
Prayer Apps
There are many apps available, all with different strengths and weaknesses. Most of them are named “Daily Office,” which makes it tricky to sort them out. So, here are a couple suggestions:
- Daily Office (Common Prayer Where You Are): This app gives you abbreviated Morning and Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) with an option to read the Scripture appointed for that day. This app gives you a good feel for the Daily Office; it has a lot of options but isn’t too complicated.
- Daily Prayer App (A Guide to Spiritual Rhythm): This app is loosely based on the BCP Daily Office but with a streamlined experience. It’s beautiful and very simple to use.
- Mission St. Clare (Praying the Daily Office): An app version of the website mentioned above.
Maps for Your Spiritual Journey
Get started on your travels with Jesus by taking two spiritual self-assessments.
My Way of Love shows you where you are on the continuum of exploring a life with Christ, to growing in that life, to deepening in that life, and eventually to finding your life centered in Christ.
The spiritual-gifts inventory shows how the gifts and interests God has given you equip you both to serve and to go deeper in your faith.
Other
Irish Pub Night (Sunset Concert Series)
On Sunday, March 19, at 5 p.m., enjoy live music by Tony Silvestri’s Celtic Band, Boys of the Prairie, while enjoying drinks (beer, wine, and soda) and pub food at HJ’s Youth and Community Center.
Serve Opportunities
Andie’s Pantry – Get involved and get to know your neighbors! From March 3-13, meet a family and purchase groceries every other month (six times during the year) or join the list of substitutes to be called as needed. You can also donate money online to help purchase groceries. Contact Dorothy Curry or Melissa Rock.
St. James Loads of Love – Every third Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., we partner with St. James United Methodist Church to offer free laundry service at Carol’s Laundry (55th and Paseo). Three two-hour shifts are available. Contact Janet Kelley.
Special Worship
Ash Wednesday
Wednesday, February 22, 7 a.m., 12 p.m., and 7 p.m.
Ashes to Go at Charlie Hooper’s in Brookside – Wednesday from 12-1 p.m.
Sacred Spaces - Taizé
Tuesdays (March 7, March 21, and April 4) at 6 p.m.
Join us for Taizé worship at St. Andrew’s, which includes prayer, simple music, a time for silence, and inspirational readings. Song refrains are sung many times over as a prayer of the heart.
Palm Sunday
Sunday, April 2, a single service at 9:30 a.m. beginning at HJ’s Youth and Community Center.
We’ll combine our morning services, gathering at 9:30 a.m. in HJ’s parking lot for the Blessing of the Palms. Then, led by members of the Kansas City St. Andrew Pipes & Drums, we’ll walk with Jesus as he rides a donkey to the church entrance. We’ll also experience a scriptural and musical presentation of the Stations of the Cross before sharing Holy Communion. (In case of inclement weather, the Palm Sunday procession will begin in the Jewell Room.)
Choral Evensong and Postlude Recital
Sunday, April 2, 5 p.m.
“Music of Holy Week”
Holy Week
Monday, April 3, 12 p.m. – Continue your Holy Week journey with Eucharist in the chapel. The service lasts about 40 minutes.
Tuesday, April 4, 6 p.m. Taizé Worship – Reflect on Jesus’ journey to the cross through contemplative Taizé worship in the nave, which includes prayer, simple music, a time for silence, and inspirational readings.
Wednesday, April 5, 12 p.m. – Continue your Holy Week journey with Eucharist in the chapel. The service lasts about 40 minutes.
Maundy Thursday Agapé, Worship, and All-Night Watch
Thursday, April 6 at 5:30 p.m. and continuing through the night.
5:30 p.m. – The Agapé is an ancient feast of love. Ours is a reception featuring special finger-foods from the Holy Land in preparation for Maundy Thursday’s worship.
7 p.m. – The Maundy Thursday Eucharist commemorates the Last Supper. We remember Jesus taking the bread and wine, declaring them to be his Body and Blood, and giving himself for his disciples. As he washed the feet of his friends before dinner, so we will wash each other’s feet during worship. Doing so, we live out Jesus’ commandment to love by serving others.
All night – Following the Maundy Thursday Eucharist, you’re invited to pray during an all-night watch with Jesus in the chapel decorated as the Garden of Gethsemane. This powerful time of devotion begins when our worship ends and concludes with the noon Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. Individuals keep watch in the chapel in hour-long shifts. It’s our response to Jesus’ question to the sleeping disciples, “Could you not stay awake one hour? Watch and pray…” (Mark 14:38).
A security guard will be posted at the church door throughout the night. Look for the Maundy Thursday Watch sign-up board in the church’s entryway, or email Mary Sanders to sign up.
Good Friday Stations of the Cross
Friday, April 7 at 12 p.m.
On Good Friday, we’ll gather in the church to walk the Stations of the Cross. It’s an opportunity to meditate on our Lord’s suffering as we symbolically follow in his footsteps along Jerusalem’s Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrow. At stations marked by shadow boxes, we’ll remember the 14 most significant events of Jesus’ journey, beginning in the chapel with the judgment by Pontius Pilate, continuing along the side aisles around the nave, and concluding in the columbarium with Jesus’ death and burial. Within each box hangs a photographic interpretation of the event each station represents.
Good Friday Solemn Liturgy
Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m.
We’ll offer the Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday. This service is like no other – a time to put ourselves face to face with the cross, the instrument of bloody death and ultimate salvation, and contemplate the deep mystery of God’s own sacrifice for us.
Holy Saturday Prayers
Saturday, April 8 at 9 a.m.
We’ll mark the time our Lord’s body lay in the tomb and his followers mourned what they thought was the end of hope and promise. This very brief service in the chancel (where the choir sits) includes just a few readings and prayers. (After this service, the church will be prepared for Easter.)
The Easter Vigil
Saturday, April 8, at 8 p.m.
As the sun sets, come celebrate Christ’s journey from death to resurrection with the Easter Vigil. This is Christianity’s most ancient worship, and its power to tell the story of our faith is still astounding. We begin outside, under the porte-cochere, kindling a new fire to symbolize how the evil of the cross can’t extinguish God’s light; and from this fire, we light the Paschal candle. The congregation then follows this holy light into the darkened church, after which a series of Old Testament readings tells the story of salvation from creation through the prophets. Then we baptize new Christians and reaffirm our baptismal vows, remembering our own passage from death to life in Christ. The congregation sits in darkened silence for a few minutes until a noise breaks through (symbolizing the earthquake that opened the tomb) and the lights come on, revealing the altar and cross adorned in flowers! Suddenly, it’s Easter, and God’s light and life have once again conquered the power of sin and death. From there, the celebration continues with the first Eucharist of Easter.
Easter Day
Sunday, April 9 at 8 and 10:15 a.m.
We’ll welcome this happy morning with our Festival Eucharists of Easter, complete with a chamber orchestra. An Easter egg hunt for the kids will follow the second service, about 11:30 a.m. The “alleluias” will return (including the chance for all of us to sing the Hallelujah Chorus) as we celebrate the joy of Christ’s resurrection and the joy we know in our own new lives – foretastes of the eternal life Jesus has won for us.
St. Andrew’s Podcast
Weekly messages from Sunday worship and Trailside Thursdays. Listen on Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon, or Anchor.fm.