ZION NEWSLETTER  Volume 21, Number 3 The Easter issue April/May 2006
	Pastor Roggelin's Archive: Past Messages From Zion
	Pastor Roggelin's Resume and Links

 

Christ ist erstanden von der Marter alle; des soll'n alle froh sein; Christus will unser Trost sein. Kyrieleis!

Christ is arisen From the grave's dark prison! So let us all be joyful; He is our Savior faithful. Alleluia!

German Chorale, 12th century, adapted Wittenberg 1529, translation: C J Terry

Martin Luther, 1524:

Dear members and friends of Zion:        Feiern Sie mit uns – Come celebrate with us!

We have been waiting for Easter this year – and we’ll celebrate the highlight of the entire church year with might! Easter is embedded in a sacred sequence of days and celebrations, called the Triduum (from the Latin, meaning “three days”), and it is lasting a full joyful season of 50 days/8 Sundays until Pentecost/ Pfingsten.

We hope you appreciate again our service arrangements, designed to follow the stages of moving from Palm Sunday to Easter and into Eastertide, honoring the special gifts of our two languages and traditions:

-         Palm Sunday:  we will celebrate a German family service with an emphasis on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, including a Palm Procession, while the English service will have a double focus on “Palm and Passion” with a reading of the Passion according to St. Mark and a plain setting of Holy Communion.

-         Maundy Thursday/Gründonnerstag: an evening Eucharist in English commemorating our Lord’s Last Supper, with great music like Mozart’s Ave verum and Duruflé’s Ubi caritas.
The color of the day is white, and the Great Doxology, Gloria in excelsis, is sung.
However, at the end of the service the Altar will be stripped, preparing us for Good Friday.

-         Good Friday/Karfreitag: a German service at the traditional hour of Jesus’ death: 3 pm,
with the reading of the passion according to St. John, German chorale music centered on the Passion Chorale “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden”, and a plain setting of Abendmahl/Holy Communion.

-         For the Great Vigil of Easter, the “night of nights”, we are joining our sister congregations Christ Inner Harbor and St. Mark’s at St. Mark’s (1900 St. Paul Street).

-         Easter Sunday/Ostersonntag at Zion will be celebrated with festive services in both languages with choir and brass accentuating the Easter joy at 9:15 and 11:15am. In between, at 10:15am, we will proclaim the resurrection over the Pastors’ graves in the garden with brass and daffodils, enjoy the Easter breakfast together (the men of Zion cooking and serving), and the kids will have their Easter egg hunt in Zion’s garden.

-         Special services in Eastertide include the annual Kirchgang of the Germania and Arminius Lodges on Easter 2 (April 23), Church Music Sunday on Easter 5 (May 14), coinciding with Mothers’ Day this year, and eventually the Festive Bilingual service on Pfingsten/Pentecost (June 4) with confirmation.

See you at your Zionskirche!      
Have a blessed Holy Week, Happy Easter and a joyful Eastertide!
Eine gesegnete Karwoche, ein frohes Osterfest und eine fröhliche Osterzeit wünscht Ihnen

Pastor Dr Holger Roggelin
EASTER MESSAGES FROM OUR BISHOPS

- From Bishop Knoche, Delaware-Maryland Synod, ELCA:

The resurrection of Jesus is important to me.

• When I see congregations rocked with conflict, I have hope that they can emerge stronger and more focused on mission -

because Jesus rose from the dead and brings new life today.

• When I see teenagers hooked on heroine, I have hope that they can once again have productive lives -

because Jesus rose from the dead and brings new life today.

• When I go to funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, I have hope for them and for a more peaceful future -

because Jesus rose from the dead and brings new life today.

• When I talk with couples who have lost their first love and who are looking for an excuse to leave each other, I have hope for a renewal of care and a deeper love -

because Jesus rose from the dead and brings new life today.

• When I see homes left wall-less by hurricanes, I have hope for new dwellings that will someday be called home -

because Jesus rose from the dead and brings new life today.

My prayer is that this Easter, whatever hope you need will be yours -

because Jesus rose from the dead and brings new life today.

Peace and joy,

The Rev. H. Gerard Knoche

Bishop, Delaware-Maryland Synod

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- From Bishop Hanson, Presiding Bishop, ELCA

The Easter Gospel lesson from John ends with Mary Magdalene's cry of faith, "I have seen the Lord."  Mary - vigilant, faithful, and weeping - is the first to declare her faith in the risen Lord.  The joyous good news comes after a vigil of darkness and despair.

The forty days of Lent have been a time of vigilance for us as well.  With ashes on our brows on Ash Wednesday, we committed ourselves to be vigilant through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  We sought to be vigilant and faithful, but our vigilance wavered.  Like the disciples asked to keep watch, weariness overwhelmed our best intentions.

Vigilance is difficult for us.  Our minds wander and our spirits despair.  We forget the good news for which the poor ache.  We neglect our call to be public witnesses in our churches, in our homes, among all people.  We fail to proclaim God's word. 

The good news of Easter morning revives us.  Jesus calls us by name.  We, too, see the Lord.  We see the fulfillment of Christ's promise in the empty cross and the empty tomb.  We know joy and discover renewed hope.  We remember the fresh waters of Baptism and reclaim our call to tell the good news to the poor, strive for justice and peace, show compassion, and be God's people.  From the ashes of Good Friday, a fire ignites and we are renewed.

"I have seen the Lord!"  Thanks be to God. 

(Inspired by a sermon by Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers, Greater Milwaukee Synod)

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson

Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America