Sunday, April 24 was Easter Sunday, the oldest and most important feast of the Christian church marking the birth of new creation through Christ. Bishop Hartley wore his cape and miter for this service, marking as a special day in the church year. He began his sermon with a history lesson. Recalling that Easter was the most solemn day for Baptisms in the early church and that early writers called the day “the most holy feast,” “the great day” “the feast of feasts” “the queen of festivals” and “the Great Lord’s Day.”
The epistle for the day was Colossians 3:1 in which St. Paul responds to this great event by exhorting us to “set your affection on things above, not things of the earth.” The meaning of Easter is that God’s promise is fulfilled through Christ and is not the same after the new creation in Christ.
The altar and vestment color for Easter is white and the church was beautifully decorated by the altar guild with Easter lilies given by church members in memory of loved ones. We also have the chimes on the pipe organ back in operation and they add much to the beauty of the day.
Everyone is welcome at St. Francis Anglican (Traditional Episcopal) Church where Bishop Glen Hartley conducts services Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. Visit our website at stfrancisavamo.org.
