Deep Gratitude for Your Contributions to Holy Week & Easter

Holy Week and Easter Thanks and an Invitation to Share Memories

From the Rector's Desk

A Heartfelt Thank You!

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A Heartfelt Thank You for a Memorable Holy Week & Easter

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Saint Crispen's Retreat Center

Diocese of Oklahoma

May 8, 2025

Blessed Julia of Norwich,

Mystic and Theologian, c.1417

Beloved People of God,

Even though a few weeks and many miles now separate us from Holy Week, I am filled with immense gratitude for the many hands and hearts that made our observance of Holy Week and Easter so profoundly meaningful.

From the solemnity of Palm Sunday through the glorious celebration of Easter Day, your participation, in countless ways, enriched our worship and strengthened our community.

I want to highlight the gifts that were shared so lovingly:

• Thank you to those who adorned our sanctuary for each of our six services. The magnificent palms and the flowers, praising God and giving thanks for the Resurrection, beautifully adorned our worship celebrations.

• Thank you for sharing your musical gifts. The Palm Sunday choral meditation on the Way of the Cross helped set a pitch-perfect tone for the week's observances and celebrations. The music on Easter Sunday was transformational for me and, from what others shared, for many of you as well. Thank you, choir members, for the time and energy you devoted to rehearsing and offering such a flawless gift. Michael Monnikendam, your work was tireless, and your leadership and musicianship are extraordinary gifts.

  
  

• Altar Guild, you took such care in preparing everything to bring these holy days and events to life. We will never forget your deliberate and loving service, especially the tender and care-filled way you conducted the stripping of the Altar on Maundy Thursday. Thank you, dear Altar Guild.

  
  

• Thank you to our children's formation directors, Diane Perman and Jackie Halstead, and to the parents who worked with them to help our children participate more fully in the Holy Mysteries of that week. Thank you, Melody Bane and Kathy Caldwell and our nursery reading ministry.

  
  

• Thank you to our acolytes and altar servers. Special thanks to the Maundy Thursday foot washers and foot driers. There is something important communicated by our Senior Warden, Paula Copley, washing the feet of the faithful. It is truly a sign of God's right-side-up Kingdom. Thank you all who took an hour to keep watch with Jesus through the darkest hours of Good Friday morning.

  
  

• Thank you to all who offered hospitality, for the kind welcome you extended to those new to us, and for the amazing Easter Brunch which so many of our members stayed to enjoy. A new tradition?

  
  

• Thank you to those who worked tirelessly to keep our building in good order. A special thanks to Dennis Welch and Jon Vicklund, who faithfully attend to small things so they don't become full-blown crises.

  
  

• Thank you to our dedicated office staff and volunteers, especially Donna Murphy, who recruited and scheduled countless hours of work. And a special thank you to Trish Tiura for making this the most well planned and well-organized Holy Week of my 16 years as a priest. And for all your collective hard work producing the many worship booklets needed for Holy Week.

  
  

• Thank you to our lectors who brought the Passion of Christ according to Luke alive for us on Palm Sunday. Thank you to Fr. Brian Lennstrom and James Hurd for their powerful reading and preaching of Good Friday's Passion Gospel according to Saint John. Thank you to Rev. Jane Rohrer for her moving and instructive sermon, unpacking the rich layers of meaning within the Holy Week liturgies. And thank you to all of our readers throughout the week, especially those who shared the history of our Salvation at the Easter Vigil and those who read on Easter Sunday. You are treasures, every one of you.

  
  

• Thank you to those who accepted our invitation to share your memories, images and reflections on Holy Week and the holy moments you have experienced.

  
  

The spirit of generosity and commitment that shone through each of you was a true testament to the vibrant heart of our church. Your willingness to serve, to give of yourselves, and to participate fully in our shared life is a blessing beyond measure.

Please forgive me if I have failed to properly acknowledge here or otherwise overlooked your contribution. Trust that God sees every act of service, big or small, as contributing to God's Glory and the flourishing of our community.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for making this Holy Week and Easter a time of profound spiritual connection and joyful celebration.

Blessings and Peace,

PS - We were not able to use every Holy Week reflection that you submitted, and the ones we published were frequently and significantly shortened for the sake of consistency among the reflections. To enjoy the fullness of the reflection submitted please follow this link. While you are there, share your own fresh reflections and memories from our recent Holy Week and Easter celebrations.

Thank you and bless you all!!

M+

Tis not too late to seek a newer world

An Invitation to a Pilgrimage of Prayer Through Holy Week

Dear Ones,

As we enter the last two weeks of Lent, do you find that your firm resolution to give up something or take on something new for Lent has perhaps faded? Or maybe you never quite settled on an intention for this holy season or find yourself a bit vague about the intention you did set. If this resonates with you, welcome to the human condition!

Do not worry, for as Tennyson reminds us, "'Tis not too late to seek a newer world."

Lent is truly for our flourishing. It is a time when we make intentional moves to become more available to God and the help God longs to give us. With this in mind, I’ve been looking for a resource to help all of us prepare for the events of Holy Week. I came upon a set of fixed-hour prayers that we’ve turned into a little “manual” titled:

A Pilgrimage of Prayer Through Holy Week: A Pattern of Daily Prayer for You and Your Family to Pray as You Can.

This slim volume, which you’ll receive tomorrow, has brief sets of eight prayers laid out along the same lines as the monastic offices. These prayers may certainly be said privately, but they are designed beautifully for use by families and small gatherings of Christians – perhaps those who work together, are on retreat, or simply wish to share a moment of devotion.

We’ve chosen for its subtitle the wise advice of an Abbot to his monks: “Pray as you can, NOT as you can’t.” This approach has already been a great boon to me personally, causing me to pause and intentionally bring God into the day and into the work.

Here is an example, the prayer for the break of dawn:

I will have copies of this prayer volume available for you tomorrow after the service. We will also keep copies at the office for you to pick up during the week if you cannot make it tomorrow. You can also find it posted here.

This selection of prayers is intended as a resource to make these latter weeks of Lent an intentional and meaningful time as we journey towards the profound mysteries of Holy Week.

The invitation to you and your family is simply to engage, “as you can.” It is a set of daily practices designed to help us recount communally and privately the brave and miraculous acts of Jesus in his final days and hours.

I hope and pray this will help you and your family prepare for Holy Week and Easter. It's certainly been working for me.

Grace and Blessings,

Email Scam Alert

A Message from Father Michael

Dear friends, we’ve learned today that a member of the parish had their email hacked. The same message was sent to one of our St. John's email accounts as well.

The email had following subject line: “When You Have a Moment - Need Some Help” and the message read:

Hey there, Hope you're doing well! I was wondering if you might be able to help me with something when you have a moment.

No worries if not, just thought I'd ask.

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When the St. John's parishioner emailed their reply, they received this second note:

Good to read from you. I’m currently traveling to visit a friend who’s unwell, and I need to purchase an Apple gift card. I tried searching online but didn’t have any luck. If it’s convenient for you, would you mind picking one up from a grocery store? I’d be really grateful for your help with this.

Thank you so much in advance!

THIS IS A SCAM, please do not reply! We wanted to alert everyone, so you are not taken advantage of by these online predators.

Blessings,