Journey with us from Ashes to Easter

Stack’em High, Lent is Coming!
Sunday, February 15 | 9:00–11:00 a.m., Parish Hall

Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras… all of these names apply to the last day before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. At St. Paul’s, Ivy, we will celebrate this feast on Sunday, February 15, with a fabulous pancake breakfast served by our Youth. Tickets will be available at the door, and proceeds will help fund the Youth Summer Service Trip to St. James School in Philadelphia: $10 for individuals, $15 for couples, $25 for families, or your donation.

Tickets can be purchased at the door: $10 for individuals, $15 for couples, and $25 for families (or your choice of donation). Enter the raffle that day for the chance to win your very own King Cake!

Sunday, February 15 | 5:30 p.m., Burning of the Palms immediately follows Choral Evensong in the courtyard

Join us for a beautiful service of worship and music at our Choral Evensong, then stay for a new annual tradition! This year, during the reception that follows Evensong, St. Paul’s, Ivy will end the season of Epiphany with the Burning of the Palms, our final service before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

One of the ancient traditions of the church is burning the previous year’s Palm Sunday palms to be used as the ashes during the Ash Wednesday liturgy. The burning of the palms recalls the fading nature of Christ’s triumphant entrance to Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week, invites us to consider the transience of earthly glory, and reminds us of the hope of everlasting life.

Ashes to Go | 7:30–9:00 a.m., Old Trail Drive
If your schedule won’t allow you to get to our Ash Wednesday services at noon or 7:00 p.m., Mthr. Amanda and Austin Geelhoed invite you to find them in Old Trail (Crozet) on the morning of Ash Wednesday for the imposition of ashes as a reminder of our mortality and our need for God’s forgiveness as we enter the season of Lent. The imposition and accompanying prayer only take a few minutes, so you can get right back on the road to work or school. Find them on the corner across from Grit Coffee, 1110 Old Trail Dr #120, Crozet, VA 22932.

Ash Wednesday Worship | 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
The best way to mark the beginning of Lent is to attend an Ash Wednesday worship service. This year, we offer Ash Wednesday services at 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Both will include Holy Communion, special readings, prayer, and the imposition of ashes to mark the beginning of Lent.

Our noon Eucharist will feature contemplative piano improvisation as well as violin music by Justin Esposito; at 7:00 p.m., the Parish Choir sings choral music including Psalm 51 and the legendary shape note tune ‘Idumea.’ Nursery care is available at the 7:00 p.m. service.

The Poetry of Lent: A Lenten Companion to Mary Oliver’s “Devotions”

Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, Oliver is widely celebrated as an accessible, insightful observer of the natural world, the life of faith, and the interplay between the two. Imagine a six-week journey with Oliver at your side, illuminating ancient passages of scripture; provoking bite-sized meditations on key Lenten themes; and pointing toward everyday practices for individuals and families. All you need is this devotional, a Bible, and a copy of Oliver’s wonderful collection, Devotions (the poems are also available online).

Click here to view or download this Lenten Devotional.

Lent Madness is a Lenten devotion that uses a “tournament bracket” of saints and other Christian witnesses: you read brief daily bios, vote on each matchup, and one ends up with the “Golden Halo.” It’s a lighthearted way to learn from the saints and deepen your Lent.

In Episcopal terms, it connects with honoring “the presence of Christ expressing itself in and through particular lives” (Lesser Feasts and Fasts) and with the Ash Wednesday call to keep “a holy Lent” through prayer and reflection (Book of Common Prayer, Ash Wednesday invitation). 

Play Lent Madness here!

Sunday, March 1 | 5:30 p.m.
Our regular evensong offering takes on a more introspective flavor during Lent, as the Schola Cantorum sings Henry Purcell’s Evening Service in g minor and Samuel Sebastian Wesley’s plaintive “Wash me throughly.”

Sunday, March 15 | 5:30 p.m.
The Schola Cantorum sings the elegant but staid Second Service of Tudor composer Orlando Gibbons, along with the timeless, weeping “Like as the hart” by Herbert Howells.

Remember a loved one or give thanks for a joyful occasion by making an honorary donation for Easter flowers for our beautiful Easter services. Donation forms can be found at the back of the church, in the church office at Kirklea, or in the Parish Hall. You can also submit your form and donation online.

Donations in any amount are welcome and checks should be made out to “St. Paul’s, Ivy” with “Easter Flowers” in the memo line. Forms and payment are due by Friday, March 27. Your remembrance or thanksgiving will appear in the Easter Sunday bulletins.

Holy Eucharist Rite I | 8:15 a.m.
Holy Eucharist Rite II with Children’s Chapel | 10:30 a.m.

Palm Sunday begins our observance of Holy Week, as we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem with the distribution of blessed palm leaves and a joyful procession into the church. The mood shifts quickly  when we turn to a reading of the Passion, where we remember the final moments of Jesus’ life and his death on the cross. The dramatic shift from joy to sadness on Palm Sunday serves as a frame and foundation for the rest of Holy Week.

Children’s Chapel | 10:30 a.m. worship
During our 10:30 a.m. worship time, all children are invited to follow Austin to Children’s Chapel for a special Palm Sunday lesson. Children return back to the church at the Peace, in time for communion.

Youth Group Dinner with PACEM | 5:00-5:45 p.m.
All SPIvy Youth and their friends are invited to supper with the ladies of PACEM. Our youth will prepare and serve dinner, then sit down together with the women to break bread, share stories, and enjoy meaningful conversation in community.

6:30 p.m. | St. Paul’s Memorial Church
The St. Paul’s, Ivy Parish Choir joins forces with the choirs of Christ Church, Charlottesville, and St. Paul’s Memorial Church to present Bob Chilcott’s monumental St. John Passion in the glorious acoustics of St. Paul’s Memorial Church, under the direction of Deke Polifka.

The story of Christ’s trial and Crucifixion is narrated by the Evangelist, while the choir and other soloists punctuate and enhance the drama throughout. William Ferguson, tenor, will be the guest soloist, serving in the role of the Evangelist. The choir and soloists are accompanied by organ and cello and there are several hymns for choir/congregation within the hour-long work. The Gospel texts are paired with English poems from the thirteenth to early seventeenth centuries that express deeply human responses to death, to life, and to man’s relationship with the world and with God.

Join us for this powerful telling of the Passion — an epic narrative brought to life through choir, organ, and cello.
(Please note that Choral Evensong will not be offered at St. Paul’s, Ivy on March 29.)

Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday Eucharists | 12:00 p.m.

Join Fr. Justin and Mthr. Amanda for simple noonday Eucharist services with piano music on Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week. These services offer a way to be engaged and still our hearts as we proceed into the last few days of Jesus’s life.

Maundy Thursday Worship with Foot-washing and Stripping of the Altar | 7:00 p.m. 

On Maundy Thursday, we enter The Holy Triduum with Jesus and his disciples on the night before his death, through our remembrance of the Last Supper and the ritual of foot-washing (optional, but encouraged). The St. Paul’s, Ivy Parish Choir will sing Nicholas White’s “Anthems at the Mandatum” as well as anthems and the austere plainsong setting of Psalm 22. The name ‘Maundy Thursday’ comes from the Latin mandatum, or mandate, and is used for this holy night because this is the night Jesus gave a mandate to his disciples: to love one another as he loved them.

The Stripping of the Altar, which happens at the close of this service, provides us with a brief but powerful reminder of Jesus’ humiliation before his death. During this portion of the service, the lights are turned down as the clergy remove all decorative items from the chancel area and wash the bare altar. At the end of the service, we all leave in silence as we prepare for the darkness and solemnity of Good Friday. Nursery care will be available for children ages birth through 3 years old.

Children’s Maundy Thursday Worship with Foot-washing | 7:00–8:15 p.m.

Children will gather in the Children’s Chapel on the lower level for a special Maundy Thursday service that includes Holy Eucharist and foot washing. 

Holy Thursday Night Watch | 8:00 p.m. April 2 through 12:00 p.m. April 3, Neve Hall 

This year, you are invited to join in the ancient tradition of keeping the Night Watch with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in Neve Hall, beginning after the Maundy Thursday service on April 2nd and continuing until noon on Good Friday, April 3.

On the first Maundy Thursday, Jesus held the Last Supper with his apostles and gave his Church the gift of Holy Communion forever. After they ate, he went to the Garden of Gethsemane with Peter, John, and James. He invited them to pray with him, but they all fell asleep and did not complete their watch. Since then, Christians all over the world have remembered Jesus’ agony in the garden through the tradition of the Night Watch.

During the Maundy Thursday liturgy, the altar is stripped, and the Holy Sacrament is moved to a different location called an “altar of repose” for the night to remember Jesus going from his table with his friends to Gethsemane. The faithful are invited to come and meditate on Christ’s passion with the Blessed Sacrament during the night, keeping watch as the apostles were asked to. The remaining bread will then be consumed at the 7:00 p.m. Good Friday liturgy, traditionally the only day of the year when priests are not allowed to celebrate the Eucharist.

All are welcome to come and pray, read, or simply sit in silence to contemplate Jesus’ sacrifice for us. A Bible, a Book of Common Prayer, and a prayer desk will be provided, but you may bring any other kind of devotional material you desire to use.

The black doors, which lead from the courtyard into the Neve Hall area, will remain unlocked. If you’d like to have someone else in the building during your watch, you can indicate that on the signup form. 

Sign up to watch with Christ here.

Good Friday Worship Service | 12:00 p.m.
Good Friday Worship Service with Holy Communion from the Reserved Sacrament and Choir | 7:00 p.m.

In this service, we enter into the mystery of God’s love revealed on the hard wood of the cross, “a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.” Join us as we remember what Jesus suffered for us, and experience the feelings of sorrow and regret that arise for our share in the brokenness of the world. It is a day of intense sorrow, but one that holds tightly to Christian hope. At noon, the musical offering from Justin Esposito includes Bach’s “Ebarme dich.”

In our service at 7:00 p.m., the St. Paul’s, Ivy Parish Choir will sing plainsong psalmody, the profound “O vos omnes” of Pablo Casals, and lead the congregation in hymns of the day, and Justin Esposito returns to play Bach’s “Ebarme dich.” Nursery care will be available during the 7:00 p..m. service for children ages birth through 3 years old.

Good Friday Children’s Stations of the Cross | 5:00 p.m., St. Paul’s, Ivy Campus

On Good Friday, we continue the tradition of recounting each step of Jesus’ final journey to the cross. Children and their adults are invited to join Austin Geelhoed and enter into the mystery of God’s love revealed on the hard wood of the cross through our intergenerational Stations of the Cross. Process through the church grounds together and recount each step of Jesus’ final journey to the cross. If you are interested in learning more, please email ">Austin Geelhoed, Director of Children and Youth Formation.

Holy Saturday Worship | 10:30 a.m., St. Paul’s, Ivy Graveyard

Experience the “in-between time” of Holy Saturday morning, a threshold day of waiting, when all is still and death seems to have had the last word. We will gather in the graveyard to remember loved ones who have died in the Christian hope. This service will be a time for quiet prayer, where, in the midst of the budding flowers of Spring, we will hope to catch a glimpse of resurrection life to come.

The Great Vigil of Easter | 8:00 p.m.

The most significant church service of the whole Christian year, this dramatic service of extraordinary depth and beauty leads us through the profound shift from the darkness of Good Friday and Holy Saturday and into the beauty and light of the resurrection of our Lord on Easter. It begins in the courtyard with The Service of Light (kindling of new fire outside the church, lighting the Paschal candle). From there we’ll move into the darkened church, lit only by our candles, for The Service of Lessons (the telling of the story of our salvation history); Baptisms, Confirmations and Receptions into The Episcopal Church (on occasion); and the very first Eucharist of Easter. The St. Paul’s, Ivy Parish Choir will sing psalms and anthems throughout the Liturgy of the Word and the organ will proclaim the moment of the resurrection in blazing glory, followed by triumphal Easter hymns. Following the service, join us for a cake and bubbly reception in the Parish Hall.
Please note: this service lasts about 2 hours. Incense will be present, and nursery care will not be provided.

Traditional Easter Service (Rite I) | 7:30 a.m.
This early morning Easter service is the perfect place for a quiet celebration of the resurrection of our Lord. Using traditional Elizabethan language, this service will help you center yourself in the joy of the day.

Flowering the Cross
We invite you to bring store-bought or fresh flowers from your home gardens to help flower our Easter cross. Covered with fresh, living flowers, the cross serves not only as an emblem of Jesus’ resurrection but also of the continuing presence of Christ among us.

Family Service with Choir and Children’s Homily (Rite II) | 9:00 a.m.
This joyful and boisterous service will feature music from our choir and organ, as well as an Easter children’s homily. An Easter egg hunt on the lawn will follow. Nursery care will be provided.

Easter Sunday Children’s Easter Egg Hunt | 10:00 a.m., St. Paul’s, Ivy Lawn
Bring your baskets to the 9:00 a.m. service and stay for our beloved Easter Egg Hunt on the lawn!

Traditional Easter Service with Choir and Brass (Rite II) | 11:00 a.m.
Our final service on Easter morning will again feature special music from the choir, organ, and brass instruments. Nursery care will be provided. No children’s chapel at this service, and no Youth Gathering this evening. 

Easter Holy Eucharist: Rite II with Celtic Music | 5:30 p.m., followed by a potluck supper in the Parish Hall
Join us for a new Easter Evening service featuring an expanded Ivy Consort — our Celtic-style instrumental ensemble — for a contemplative close to the feast, grounded in music, community, and peace. Following the service, linger a while for a potluck supper in the Parish Hall. Please note that this service replaces Choral Evensong for this week.