Holy Week for Christians starts Sunday

This Sunday, 159 million American Christians will begin the observance of Holy Week. It starts with Palm Sunday and ends with the Easter celebration.

In Batavia, there will be three community observances sponsored by the Batavia Ministerial Association, an organization that involves pastors from a majority of Batavia's churches.

Calvary Episcopal priest the Rev. Father Mike Rasicci has been an advocate for the association.

"Even though we might have different theological opinions, it is important to come together as a community to share our love for Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God," he said.

At 7:30 a.m. Sunday, there will be a blessing of palms in the Batavia Public Library parking lot, 10 S. Batavia Ave. Rasicci, the Rev. Mike Stoner from Batavia United Methodist Church and the Rev. Steven Srock from Bethany Lutheran Church will be involved.

At the conclusion of the service, the church members will walk to their various churches for 8 a.m. services.

The Methodists will bring a donkey to the blessing to enhance the experience of what it was like in the days of Christ. (Palm Sunday tells the story of Christ's entrance to Jerusalem the week before his crucifixion; people waved palms like banners.)

"We realize that some churches don't have an early service but we hope they will still attend this community service," Rasicci said.

On Good Friday, March 21, the association will sponsor a special service with pastors sharing in the message. The service will take place at noon at Calvary Episcopal, 222 S. Batavia Ave., and include music from different churches.

The Good Friday service of my youth was always very special. It was a very emotional time listening to the seven Last Words that Christ spoke before his crucifixion. When Cora Lee Boyd of Logan Street Baptist Church sang "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord," the congregation was silent, listening to every word.

The final community event takes place at Logan Street Baptist Church on Easter Sunday, March 23, with an early-morning sunrise service. This service regularly takes place at Logan street Baptist and is observed rain or shine. Although area pastors share in delivering the message, the service always features the amazing choir from Logan Street Baptist. This year Stoner will deliver the message.

The Ministerial Association is also involved in many other events during the year. It offers a Thanksgiving service and works with the city and various organizations to provide the prayers and invocations for the fireworks, Memorial Day and Veterans Day observances. All of the ministers are on call to fill in for the chaplain of the fire department or to provide help in an emergency situation.

"It is important to come together as an organization to meet the spiritual needs of the community," Rasicci said. "It is also important for us to get to know one another for our own spiritual needs."

In my youth, there were early morning Holy Week services and it was not unusual to see ministers sitting together at basketball games and greeting young people of all faiths.

Although the Catholic church is no longer involved in the association, the original group was led by Monsignor William Donovan of Holy Cross and the Rev. Gustav Lund from Bethany.

I grew up knowing all of the pastors in town because of the Holy Week observances. The Rev. Gilbert Johnstone of the Baptist church and the Rev. Sam Blackard of Calvary Episcopal were also active in the group. Even though we attended different churches, it gave us all a sense of being connected. Isn't that what being a community is all about?

Thank you to the Ministerial Association for all of the extra hours they put in to bring us together as one.