ELCA plans Lent, Holy Week services retreats across country

by Carrie L. Draeger, ELCA News Service*

Retreat-style events will take place this summer to give
Lutheran pastors and lay leaders a fresh view of Holy Week
services. They are part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America's (ELCA) "Worship at the Center 2009" events
said Scott Weidler, associate director for worship and
music, ELCA Worship and Liturgical Services. The first
event was held June 15-18 at St. Olaf College, Northfield,
Minn. "I left motivated to share the information in my
home congregation," said Janet Dembo, Harlingen, Texas,
who attended the first event.

Each retreat consists of liturgies for Ash Wednesday,
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the vigil of Easter.
After services, small- and large-group sharing provides
for "an opportunity for focusing on pastoral, theological,
musical or artistic and practical concerns," Weidler said.
The final retreats are June 29-July 2 at Messiah
Lutheran Church, Fairview Park, Ohio; and July 7-10 at
Christ Lutheran Church, Long Beach, Calif. Online
registration closes the Thursday before the first day of
the retreats, but walk-in registrations are welcome,
Weidler said.

The format gives participants a chance to step out of
their normal leadership roles and experience Holy Week
from the pews, Weidler said. "You experience things very
differently as a worshipper," he said. Weidler hopes that
participants will get useful ideas from the retreats, not
a set way of how the services should go. "These (services)
don't have to look and sound exactly the same from
congregation to congregation," he said.

* Carrie L. Draeger is a senior communication major with a
concentration in journalism at Pacific Lutheran University,
Tacoma, Wash. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA
News Service.