By Justin Bigos, Staff Writer
This Easter weekend, churches in our area will offer many special services and celebrations.
The First Congregational Church of Woodstock will be hosting an Easter Sunrise Service. Participants should meet at Faulkner Park at 6 a.m., in order to hike to Mt. Tom, where the service begins at about 7 a.m. at the star. Afterward, Easter Breakfast will be served from 8-9 a.m. in the Billings Room, which is the auxiliary chapel attached to the church. Easter Morning Worship will take place at 10:30 a.m.
On Thursday, April 2, Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in Woodstock will host a Holy Thursday Mass at 7 p.m., followed by a Good Friday service at 3 p.m. On Saturday, April 4, the church will host a Holy Saturday Mass at 7 p.m. The Easter Sunday Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m.
The Our Lady of the Snows sister parish, Our Lady of the Mountain in Killington, will hold its Easter Mass on Sunday, April 5, at 8 a.m.
The Brownsville Community Church in West Windsor will hold several services during Holy Week. On Thursday, April 2, at 7 p.m., there will be a Maundy ceremony commemorating the Last Supper. On Good Friday at 2 p.m., the church will host the Tenebrae (Latin for “darkness”) ceremony, symbolic of Christ’s passion and death. On Saturday, the annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place at 10 a.m. On Sunday, the community church will hold an outdoor Easter Sunrise service at Mt. Ascutney beginning at 7 a.m., followed by a Pancake Breakfast from 7:30-9 a.m. at the church, and the Easter service at 9:30 a.m.
The Quechee Church will celebrate Easter this year with a Good Friday service on April 3 at 7 p.m., followed the next morning by an Easter Egg Hunt at 11 a.m. The Easter Worship Service will be held on Sunday at 9 a.m.
The First Congregational Church in Hartland is having a Maundy Thursday Tenebrae service on April 2, at 7 p.m. On April 3, the church will host a Good Friday Vigil from 5-7 p.m. On Easter Sunday, the church will hold a Sunrise Service at 6 a.m. at Hammond Hill (behind Mike’s Store and Deli), followed by a free breakfast downstairs at the church. Finally, at 10 a.m., the traditional Easter Worship will be held in the sanctuary, with the Flowering of the Cross.
North Chapel in Woodstock will host an Easter Egg dyeing party on Saturday at 10 a.m. They will then hold an Easter Sunday service at 10 a.m. All are welcome.
The Taftsville Chapel Mennonite Fellowship will commence their events with a 7:30 a.m. Cross Walk, a short walk up the hill behind the chapel for “a time of prayer, reflection, and singing.” The chapel will serve a potluck-style breakfast at 8:30 a.m. at the chapel, and all are welcome. Then the church will hold its Easter Morning Service at 9:30 a.m.
The Christian Science Society of Woodstock will be offering its Sunday Easter Service on April 5 at 10 a.m.
St. James Episcopal Church will hold a service on Maundy Thursday, April 17, at 7 p.m., including the sacrament of Holy Eucharist and the Stripping of the Altar ceremony. There will also be a Good Friday liturgy at noon, and Easter Sunday services at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. All services except the one at 8 a.m. are also available via Zoom.
North Pomfret Congregational Church will hold a Maundy Thursday service at 5:30 p.m., followed by an Easter Sunday Worship service at 10 a.m. that will meet in the sanctuary and also via Zoom.
