The Lenten/Easter Season
Ash Wednesday Services
Wednesday, February 22 – 8:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
Imposition of Ashes & Holy Communion
We will offer the Imposition of Ashes and Holy Communion at our regular 8:00 a.m. service and 12:30 & 7:00 p.m. Following the 7:00 p.m. service we will have a brief dedication of our new labyrinth which was been designed and made by Park Avenue members. A simple dinner of soup and bread will follow.
Wednesdays in Lent
Wednesday Night Service (Spiritual Disciplines) – 7:00 p.m.
We will gather for a time of reflection, prayer, and spiritual renewal each Wednesday. The services will focus on the spiritual disciplines of Surrender, Discernment, Solitude, Contemplation, and Hospitality; ending with Celebration on Easter Sunday morning.
A fellowship meal of soup and bread will follow each service. The labyrinth will also be available for those who wish to use it as part of their spiritual walk.
Lenten Retreat
March 16-18 Holy Cross Monastery
The theme of our Lenten retreat is “Be Not Anxious” based on Jesus’ words to his disciples found in Matthew 6:25-26; 30a: Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you…
Questions for thought: How does Jesus’ death and resurrection call us to live into this passage? Can we let go and trust that God has the power and grace to secure our days and future?
Palm/Passion Sunday
April 1
9:00 a.m. Worship and Holy Communion
9:30 a.m. Pancake Breakfast
The membership committee will host their annual Pancake Breakfast. Everyone is invited to come early to share in their holy meal as we prepare to worship.
11:00 a.m. Worship and Holy Communion
Our newly formed children’s choir will make their debut
Maundy Thursday
April 5 Worship Service at 7:00 p.m.
A service of remembrance of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples.
Good Friday
April 6 Worship Service at 12:30 p.m.
We will host this joint service with Park Avenue Christian Church where we will recall the crucifixion of Christ and his last words.
Easter Sunday
April 8 The Resurrection of our Lord
9:00 a.m.,11:00 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. Space for Grace
These services will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection with glorious music, the Easter passages, and Holy Communion. A fellowship breakfast will follow the 9 a.m. service, and coffee hour after the 11 a.m. service.
Services of Worship at Park Avenue United Methodist Church
The Weekly Service Schedule
Sunday @ 9 am
Communion Service is a quiet, meditative service where the sacrament of Holy Communion is served weekly. This service includes the prayers, scripture readings, a children’s message and sermons offered in the Celebration Service, but does not have any music.
Sunday @11 am
Celebration Worship is a traditional worship service with a full choir and hymn singing accompanied by our organ. When the choir is on vacation during the summer months, professional soloists provide special music. The sacrament of Holy Communion is served on the first Sunday of each month. Following this service, the congregation invites all visitors to join them for a time of fellowship and refreshments. Professional child care is offered during this service for children 3 and under.
Sunday @ 6:30 pm
See Space For Grace
Wednesday @ 8 am
A quiet service of prayer and scripture reading. Holy Communion offered each
week.
Special Holiday Worship Schedule
PAUMC offers one worship service at 11 AM on Sundays of special holiday weekends, including the 1st Sunday after Christmas and the 1st Sunday after New Year’s, Memorial Day, the 4th of July (when it falls on a weekend) and Labor Day.
Special Worship Services at Park Avenue United Methodist
Christmas Eve
4 pm Family Service with a child focused service and 7 pm Traditional Candlelight
Service. A fellowship time is offered following the later service.
Thanksgiving
Park Avenue UMC participates in the Service at Temple Taaray Shefila sponsored by the
Yorkville Christian-Jewish Council. Held on the Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving each year.
Space for Grace
Sunday evenings at 6:30 PM
Space for Grace is a relaxed, engaging and relevant evening worship service offering a place of renewal, reconciliation and relationship with god and community. We welcome you to worship with us—our hearts, minds and doors are always open!
Join our Google Group to keep in touch with others who worship during Space for Grace:
http://groups.google.com/group/spaceforgrace?hl=en
You can also find us on FaceBook:
About the Sanctuary
PARK AVENUE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH surrounds you with a rich tapestry of symbols and icons. The building (whose architect, Henry C. Pelton, also designed the landmark Riverside Church) is adapted from the 11th century Church of San Abbonio, at Como.
The Nave window, above the main entrance, is of stained glass, and divided into three separate openings symbolic of the Trinity. To the left of the window is the figure of the Griffin trampling a serpent, an icon of the traditional belief that goodness and righteousness will overcome sin and evil. At the windows' right is the figure of a lamb carrying the cross, suggesting purity and meekness upholding truth. The capitals of the two columns that divide the triple window contain, on one, a carving of the head of Christ; on the other the image of the Lamb of God.
Our pulpit, to the congregants' right, displays symbols of the four Gospel writers. In ascending order: the scallop shell at the bottom represents Matthew; Mark is represented by the Lion, Luke by the 'physician figure,' and John by the eagle atop of the figures. The whole pulpit is of hand-carved wood, and was designed after the 11th century pulpit in the Church of San Miniator Al Monte, at Florence.
Our Lectern, to the congregants' left, comprises a crouched winged angel on whose shoulder is the "Book of Life." It is modeled after Voussoirs of the porch of the Cathedral at Verona.
The facade (front) is typical of Romanesque design. Each of two long slender columns is topped, above the fourth story, in marble and capping by an angel reading from the Word of God to the people below.
The Rondel above the main door has at its center a crowned Christ holding The Lamb's Book of Life, flanked at either side by cherubs, the symbols of praise and thanksgiving and prayer and piety. The Rondels' outer arc contains engraved symbols of the four Evangelists interspersed with rosettes.
Above the east and west doors (directional from the main entrance) are stone lintels with carved Biblical inscriptions, and above the lintels are symbols representing the Twelve Apostles. These symbols are emblematic of how each died, or was martyred. Above the East door: Bartholomew (knife); Simon (saw); Thaddeus (halberd and square); Phillip (small cross on staff); James the Great (three shells); John (serpent emerging from chalice). Above the West door: Peter (crossed keys); Andrew (diagonal cross); Thomas (square and spear); Matthew (ax); James the Minor (fuller's club); and last, Judas (bag of gold).