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We are doing something new for Holy Week this year at Eureka Christian Church.  Actually, it is something very, very old.  The Easter Vigil is the oldest intact worship service in the Christian faith.  It dates from around the year 250.  Think about that.  Before the emperor Constantine converted to make Christianity “legal,” before even the twenty-seven books that we know as the New Testament were settled on as sacred scripture, the Christian community gathered on Holy Saturday for this extraordinary experience.  This is an ancient worship service.  It is timeless.

In the earliest days, the Easter Vigil was an all-night affair.  The community would gather on Saturday night and worship until the dawning of Easter Day.  In between was a service in four parts.  The Service of Light begins the Easter Vigil, as we light the great Paschal fire to proclaim that our God has power over even the darkest darkness.  The Service of the Word is next with a retelling of our salvation history from Genesis to the empty tomb.  The Service of Water follows, which is when the early church baptized new believers.  And the Easter Vigil concludes with the Service of the Table, as we break bread and share the cup together.

Our Easter Vigil will be from 9:00 PM until 10:30 PM on Holy Saturday, April 4.  Because this is our first year to experience this worship service, we have modified it.  Instead of the traditional 12 readings from the Old Testament, we will hear only four.  But these will be enough for us to realize once again what amazing and wondrous things God has done for us.  Depending on the response from you, we may expand the Easter Vigil in the coming years to include all 12 readings.  (And if we do, you will discover that there is nothing quite like taking communion as your first act of Easter Day, just after midnight.  But we’ll save that experience for another year!)

I have heard many people say that Christmas Eve is their favorite service of the Christian year.  It is just so sensory and mysterious.  And the story itself is just so powerful.  I think this is what captivates us about Christmas Eve.  Well, let me say from personal experience that the Easter Vigil is just as mysterious, just as captivating, just as powerful.  It is a service like no other.  I do hope you will consider being part of it.  Rediscover the Easter Vigil this Holy Week at Eureka Christian Church.

Beginning on February 15, I have the privilege of participating in a Spiritual Director Training Program at the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction.  This is a ministry of the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson, Arizona.  It offers in-depth study, peer learning, and spiritual mentoring for those interested in becoming a spiritual director.  The Board approved my participation last fall, and I am very honored and excited to be going.  I will be in Tucson February 15-27 and then again April 12-24 to complete the training.

Spiritual direction is the art of holy listening.  You could call it spiritual counseling.  A spiritual director helps people discern God’s movement in their lives.  A spiritual director helps people through times of restlessness and drought.  A spiritual director listens and mirrors back observations.  And at times, a spiritual director can even help people break through a roadblock to experience a deeper level of healing and wholeness.  I myself had this experience when a spiritual director offered insight into what had been a life-long weight on my soul.

Of course, I believe that I have already been engaging in spiritual direction as a part of my pastoral ministry, but I have not had any formal training.  This program will help me be more effective and more confident.  One of the reasons I selected the Hesychia School is because they have a specific unit for offering spiritual direction with the so-called “spiritual but not religious.”  I seem to encounter a lot of these folks, and I really believe that we have something to offer them at Eureka Christian Church.  Perhaps not worship on a Sunday morning, but certainly sanctuary and guidance.  I think this can be a growing ministry for us.

Hesychia means “watchful, inner stillness and silence.”  While I will be learning a lot and working hard during my weeks there, I am also looking at this as a spiritual retreat.  I thank you for giving me this time.  It is time for me to tend to my soul.  I am only as effective as I am whole, and I know you understand that.  You are a rare and wonderful congregation.  I thank you, and I am honored to serve with you.

“It is solved by walking.”  I came across this quote from Saint Augustine years ago, and something about it stuck with me.  I suppose that’s because I have always found this to be true for me.  It is solved by walking, no matter what “it” is.  Cabin fever?  It is solved by walking.  Bored?  It is solved by walking.  Stressed?  It is solved by walking.  Angry?  It is solved by walking.  Writer’s block?  It is solved by walking.  Procrastination?  It is solved by walking.  A little too much turkey or Mexican food or chocolate or pie?  It is solved by walking.

I love to walk.  In fact, it’s the only exercise I’ve ever been able to do consistently and still enjoy.  They say that the best exercise is the one you’ll actually do.  For me, it’s walking.  I think I could walk all day long.  And in 496 days, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing.  For my Sabbatical in 2016, I will be walking the 500-mile Camino de Santiago.  This is a medieval pilgrimage route from St. Jean Pied de Port at the foot of the Pyrenees in France to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.  I will start my pilgrimage June 1, 2016.  Yes, yes.  I know that’s a long way off, but what can I say?  I’m a planner!

Actually, I’ve been planning this for about 10 years now.  Ever since I first heard of the Camino de Santiago, I’ve been compelled to do it.  I’m not sure why.  Part of it is the physical challenge, of course.  Can I really walk 500 miles in 38 days?  Part of it is the internal challenge.  Can I really walk 500 miles in 38 days in a foreign country that speaks a language I do not know all by myself?  Part of it is the spiritual connection. Walking along a path that’s been used by pilgrims for hundreds of years?  Being in the midst of their prayers, their hopes, their pain, their triumphs?  I get chills thinking about it.  And part of it is intentionally placing myself among seekers.

Most people who walk the Camino are seeking something, and I am convinced that the future of the church—our church, all churches, The Church—is to be a place where seekers are welcome.  I want us to be a place where seekers can come with all their hurts, questions, doubts, fears, differences, insecurities, baggage, blisters, anger, hopes, desires, wonderings and know they will be accepted, embraced, and loved.  If I have a “professional” hope for my Camino experience, it is this:  I want to be among seekers there because I want to learn how to be more open to seekers who cross my path here.  I want to share hopes with them.  I want to struggle with them.  I want to grow with them.  I want to learn with them.  I think the Camino will help me in this quest.

Why am I talking about this now?  Well, for one, I am VERY excited!  For another, I just paid my deposit last week.  I’m locked in.  There’s no backing out now.  I’ll try not to bore you with endless recitations of my countdown clock, even though you can be sure that’s what will be going through my head between now and then.  Not that I want to rush time; it goes fast enough as it is.  But I am really looking forward to the day when I first hear, “Buen Camino.”  In the meantime, you’ll probably find me walking.