MARCH 28: SEDER DINNER: Aquia will offer a Christian Seder Dinner on Sunday, March 28th at 5pm as part of our Holy Week observances. This is a family event that includes parts for children. Childcare will be available for 3 and under. A sign-up sheet will be available after each service. For more information, please contact Sue Selz.
LENTEN GIFTS TO ALTAR: During Lent each year, items are collected by the Outreach Ministry to be taken to the Altar to be blessed with the offering, and then used to serve God. This year these gifts are designated for Aquia’s Table. The most needed, non-perishable items include: cans of Red Kidney Beans, Petite Cut Diced Tomatoes, Green or Red Enchilada Sauce, meatless Spaghetti Sauce, and vegetarian Refried Bean; bottles of Salad Dressings; jars of ham base; boxes of Bisquick and Crystal Light (pitcher-size packets);
9 oz. paper cups; 1-gallon Ziploc bags; Dish Soap; Liquid Hand Soap; and used/recycled paper & plastic grocery bags. If the Table ends up with too many of an item, the gifts will be passed on to Feed His Sheep and SERVE. Please place your donations in the baskets on the picnic table every Sunday during Lent through Palm Sunday. Pick up a flier from the back table for a more exact shopping list and other opportunities to help at Aquia’s Table.
APRIL: As you reflect on our Lord’s sacrifices on our behalf this Lent, please take a moment each day to be thankful for all His blessings. A wonderful way to commemorate His generosity to us is to place a coin in your United Thanks Offering blue mite box every morning. Remember, each and every cent of your donation will be used to support the mission work of the Episcopal Church throughout the region, the nation and the world. Take a blue mite box home for Lent and give thanks every day. The Spring UTO Ingathering will be Sunday, April 18th.
APRIL 9TH - 11TH : ATTENTION–12TH GRADERS: The Annual senior high retreat at Shrine Mont (our diocesan camp and conference center) will be held April 9-11. In order to take a group of male and female teenagers from Aquia Church, we need at least one male chaperone and one female chaperone. Aquia Church charges only $50 per person for registration, room, and board. For more information, or in order to express your interest in going, please contact the Rev. Jay Morris (assistant@aquiachurch.com or 540.659.4007).
MARCH 28th: Easter Lilies: Pick up the gold form on the table at the back of the church and order your Easter Lilies today. $18 covers the cost of lilies, carnations and palms for Palm Sunday. Last day to order is March 28th.
Gethsemane Watch: From the end of the Maundy Thursday evening service (April 1st) until the Good Friday noon service (April 2nd), Aquia Church will hold our traditional Gethsemane Watch. After his last supper with his disciples, Jesus went to pray in the garden of Gethsemane, taking with him his disciples Peter, James, and John. Our Lord asked them to stay awake while he prayed, but they fell asleep; Jesus even had to ask them, “Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” After these apostles went to sleep several times, Jesus was arrested and put on trial prior to his crucifixion.
Here at Aquia, we follow Jesus’ command to watch and pray. At the end of the Maundy Thursday service, we strip the altar and move the remaining bread and wine of Holy Communion from the church building to the parish hall, where they serve as a focus for our prayers and meditations (printed suggestions for these will be in the parish hall, too). Then we can answer Jesus’ question with an emphatic ‘Yes!’ and with the assurance of his abiding presence with us in the Sacramental elements. A sign-up sheet is at the back of the church for those who want to participate. Endure with our Lord in prayer for at least one hour.
AQUIA’S TABLE T-SHIRTS ARE HERE! Come down to the Parish Hall today between 8:30-9am and 10:30 - 11:15am to pick yours up. If you did not order a shirt and would like one, we do have extra shirts available for $10. If you have questions, contact Megan Olson at olsonms@gmail.com.
APRIL 25: Stafford Regional Choral Society - The Stafford Regional Choral Society will perform “Hooray for Hollywood” on Sunday, April 25th at 5:30pm - Seacobeck Hall at University of Mary Washington. Cost is $85/person (cash bar, Hors d’oeuves and dinner). Proceeds support the Stafford Regional Choral Society Scholarship Fund. For details, please see the bulletin board upstairs in hallway of the parish hall.
