Holy Week and Easter Sunday at Covenant Presbyterian Church

Buckhead’s Covenant Presbyterian Church (www.covpresatlanta.org) has announced its schedule of activities for Holy Week beginning with Palm Sunday, April 14, and concluding with a joyful Easter worship service on Sunday, April 21. Visitors of all ages are welcome.

“The 11 a.m. Palm Sunday worship service on April 14 will be a joyful one with inspiring music and the waving of palms. The congregation will process into the church waving palms to remind us of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem the week before his crucifixion,” said Rev. Katie Owen Aumann, Covenant’s associate pastor.

The following Thursday evening, April 18, the church will hold a 7 p.m. Maundy Thursday service in the chapel. The service commemorates Jesus’ final Passover celebration with his disciples, prior to his arrest and crucifixion. It will include a traditional Tenabrae Service which is designed, through the reading of scripture narratives, to recreate the emotional aspects of Jesus’ final days. Worship will conclude in darkness as the church lights are dimmed. This solemn service is an important component of Holy Week, according to Rev. Dr. Richard Hill, senior pastor of Covenant Presbyterian, who asks “How can you know the joy of Easter morning without first experiencing the valley of the shadow of death?”

Holy Week concludes with an Easter celebration Sunday, April 21. The morning includes an all-church breakfast, and an Easter Egg hunt for children ages 4-11 at 10 a.m. on the church grounds. “The 11 a.m. Easter Morning service at Covenant Presbyterian church will feature the entire music ministry,” said Director of Music and Organist Jeffrey McIntyre. “The Handbell Choir will ring a medley of Easter hymns along with the Brass Quintet, and guest organist Jason Maynard will return to accompany the service at Covenant's Moller pipe organ.”

“This year’s Lenten journey at Covenant focuses on spiritual disciplines,” said Dr. Hill. “As a congregation, we are exploring both traditional spiritual disciplines like fasting, centering prayer, tithing and keeping Sabbath, as well as examining more creative spiritual disciplines including service and vocational discernment. “Holy Week, the final week in Lent, focuses on Christ’s final movement from triumphal entry into Jerusalem to death on the cross to the joy and hope of the resurrection. The week of services takes us on a spiritual journey, plunging us into the darkness of death and bringing us back into the promise of new life with God. We invite everyone to share the journey with us.”

About Covenant Presbyterian Church

For nearly a century, Covenant Presbyterian Church has served the city of Atlanta through its mission of “Equipping the people of God to serve Christ in the world”. The church is led by Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Richard Hill and Associate Pastor Rev. Katie Owen Aumann. Located at 2461 Peachtree Rd., NE, Atlanta, Ga. 30305, Covenant is home to a welcoming congregation that seeks, serves and celebrates together. The church boasts a lively youth group, hands-on mission work, a women’s spirituality ministry and a strong music program, as well as offering public lectures, social events, educational opportunities and more. Covenant supports numerous organizations including Buckhead Christian Ministry, the Central Night Shelter, ChildSpring International, Habitat for Humanity, Earth Covenant Ministry and Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta. Covenant also takes a leadership role in the LaGonave Haiti Partners, a more than 20-year partnership with the Episcopal Church of Haiti. Ongoing Haiti projects include a community health center, as well as programs for education, agriculture, adult literacy and children’s nutrition. www.covpresatlanta.org