Easter 2026
- Scott Phillips
- Mar 12
- 3 min read
Good morning,
I hope you were able to enjoy the preview of Spring this week. Looks like more season temperatures for March will stick around for a while. Here at the Bridge we are entering a busy season of ministry. Here are all the Easter-related events and activities over the next couple of weeks:
1. Starting on Sunday we are having our annual Lenten collection for Oxford Neighborhood Services’ food pantry. This year we are “playing the hits” – we are collecting jars of peanut butter and jelly and also packets of instant oatmeal. As you can imagine, these items leave the shelves very quickly. Please watch expiration dates, the pantry can’t distribute food that is past the date. A table is in the lobby for your donations. We will collect items this Sunday (3/15) through Palm Sunday (3/29).
2. Our Lenten Prayer Service on Tuesday the 24th will be focused on praying for the Next Generation of the Bridge. This is one of the most meaningful times of prayer of the year. Parents…please send me specific prayer requests for your children/teenager/college student. We pray for each one by name!
3. Our annual Holy Week Prayer Vigil starts on Thursday evening, April 2nd and concludes on Good Friday at 6 pm. If you’ve never been a part of this, for roughly 24 hours we will have someone at our church praying. Folks sign up for a 30-minute time slot.
Feel free to pray at home, at work, in your car (keep your eyes on the road with that one), or wherever else you feel connected to God. You can pray by yourself or with your prayer partner and/or spouse.
A prayer guide will be available again this year. The guide will have you read a verse of scripture on a number of different prayer topics and then give you ideas of who and what you can be praying for. We’ll be praying for others, for our nation, for our world, and for our church. We’ll spend some time giving God praise, thanksgiving, and adoration. We’ll also include a list of current prayer concerns for our ABCF family.
You may be surprised at how quickly 30 minutes goes by when you are in prayer!
4. We will have our Good Friday Communion Service at 7pm on 4/3. This is a reflective service as we focus on the Cross. We will not have Junior Worship or Nursery available, but I will have the Pastor Scott Bingo activity for the kids.
5. Easter Morning Sunrise Service at 7 am. This is a “rain or shine” service, but our hope is to be outside.
6. Easter Morning Fellowship Breakfast at 8 am. If you are able, the kitchen committee is asking for folks to bring a breakfast casserole and a fruit or pastry to share. Pancakes will be provided for everyone.
9. Easter Family Activity at 9 am. We will be showing a portion of the David animated movie that was in theaters last fall.
10. Easter Worship at 10 am.
Here’s what’s happening:
1. TONIGHT - Youth Group and Ladies Quilt Knotting at 6:30 pm at the church.
2. SUNDAY– Youth Group Bowling at Timber Wolfe Bowling Alley in Oxford from 3:30 to 5:30 pm.
3. SUNDAY – There will be information and a sign up sheet for the “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” fellowship event on 4/19. Don’t have a mailbox? See Becky Myers or Mary Lois Krieder (or me).
4. Tuesday, March 24 – Lenten Prayer Service at 6:30 pm at the church.
5. Thursday, March 26 – Youth Group and Quilt Knotting at 6:30 pm at the church.
6. Sunday, March 29 – Youth Group Luncheon after Church
7. Save the Date – Saturday, April 18 is our Spring Work Day at the church starting around 9 am. There will be plenty of indoor and outdoor jobs, as well as some heavier-duty work and some lighter duty work! Rain Date is 8/25
This Sunday we will be studying the difficult topic of dealing with loss and having to say “goodbye” to a person or to how things are in life. That is rarely easy to do. Jesus says in John 12:27 “Now my heart is troubled…” We will look at what troubled His heart, what He did in response to it, and what we can learn about dealing with our losses and having to say “goodbye” in our lives today.
If you know of someone who is struggling with loss or is anticipating having to say “goodbye” I would really encourage you to invite them to join you at the Bridge on Sunday. The sermons (starting on Sunday) for the rest of our series on the Gospel of John will be very evangelistic. This is one of the 2 times of the year that people are most open to accepting an invitation to attend a worship service!
Scott