As Easter approaches, we are preparing for our annual prayer vigil, which starts on Maundy Thursday, April 6th, at 8 p.m. and ends on Good Friday, April 7th , at 8 p.m. These twenty-four hours are a time for the Caldwell community to join our hearts and hands in prayer and silence in order to deepen our connection with the God who came to earth in Jesus, died on the cross, and was laid in the tomb – all for us and for our salvation.
Yes, we are moving toward resurrection. But between the cross and the empty tomb were two days of sorrow, despair, waiting, and silence. We need prayer to get through these days and times of sorrow and despair. You are invited to join other Caldwellians in prayer during the 24 hours we set aside every year for silence and focused attention on the Holy One. Gather with us to read, journal, and do whatever “being in God’s presence” means to you.
Would you like to be part of our overnight prayer vigil? Every hour between Maundy Thursday at 8 p.m. and Good Friday at 8 p.m. is available for at least three people to sign up and commit themselves to prayer. You can click here to sign up.
This year we will have the Prayer Room on the second floor of Hope Hall as our main gathering spot, a labyrinth and the Stations of the Cross in Hope Hall, and the sanctuary will be open for people to walk by each pew, touching it with prayers for our congregation.
Please plan to enter the church through the courtyard doorway into Hope Hall. Someone will be there at the door to welcome you inside.
As you enter the door to the upstairs hallway near the elevator, turn left. Coloring tools and paper will be available in the middle room on that hallway. Just beyond the bathroom is the prayer room. In the prayer room, there are Bibles and other books, couches and desks, journals, pens, and more. (You don’t have to wait until the prayer vigil to make use of the prayer room. It is open every Sunday morning from 9:30 am until after the worship service.)
You are welcome to pray at home – or anywhere else – during that time, but we will not have online access to the prayer room. If you plan to pray somewhere else, we hope you will sign up at http://bit.ly/402FBwI anyway and prepare your own welcoming, prayerful space at home or wherever you may be.
There are prayer resources on the Caldwell website for those that will be praying at home. On that webpage, you will find ideas on how to pray, sample prayers, music, children’s activities, and other items that can bring meaning to the occasion.
Prayer, as we know, does not recognize distance or walls or anything that normally inhibits our actions.
Prayer just is and does and goes straight to God, so enjoy!
From your siblings in Christ, Felicia Pine, Peg Robarchek, and Pat Adams.
(If you have any questions, email Felicia at feliciapine@ymail.com.)
PS. Please plan to attend the last two Wednesday noon Lenten worship services at St. John’s Baptist Church (300 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte) – tomorrow, March 22nd, and next Wednesday, March 29th. Worship takes place in their sanctuary at noon and is followed by a simple lunch provided by Elizabeth neighborhood restaurants.