Advent
Lighting of the Advent Candles

Christmas Eve 
Traditional service with Carols, Communion, and Candlelight

   Advent (meaning "Coming") is celebrated for four Sundays before Christmas.  It is the start of a new liturgical church year.  An Advent wreath with four blue (night-sky, preparation, royalty) colored candles in the middle is placed where all can see.  The wreath in itself symbolizes God embracing us thru our journey.  A progression of light each Sunday illumines our world with Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace.  In a dark and dreary world, God's word thru scripture and song gives us assurance of His coming as a baby to be born.

On a long winter evening we gather to proclaim the coming of the light. Isaiah announces that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.  Paul reminds us that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all.  In the familiar account of Christ’s birth, the evening sky is bright with the heavenly host singing, “Glory to God in the highest.”  Amid our broken world we proclaim that the prince of peace is born among us.  God comes to us in human flesh—in Christ’s body and blood—so that we may be bearers of divine light to all the world.

Ash Wednesday
with  Imposition of Ashes & Communion

Lent begins with a solemn call to fasting and repentance as we begin our journey to the baptismal waters of Easter. As we hear in today's readings, now is the acceptable time to return to the Lord. During Lent the people of God will reflect on the meaning of their baptism into Christ's death and resurrection. The sign of ashes suggests our human mortality and frailty. What seems like an ending is really an invitation to make each day a new beginning, in which we are washed in God's mercy and forgiveness. With the cross on our brow, we long for the spiritual renewal that f lows from the springtime Easter feast to come.

Midweek  Lenten Services

Lent is a time to walk with Jesus. The Lenten "closer walk" with Jesus remodels and renews us for greater love, greater service, greater spiritual insight, and greater contentment.  Lent also supplies us with a perfect chance for a life-giving walk, as in the words of the hymn:  Let us ever walk with Jesus... he has risen from the dead / that to life we may awaken.  Jesus, you are now our head.  We are your own living members; where you are, there we shall be in your presence constantly.   This Lent, our theme is "Sing with All the Saints in Glory".  Music, prayer, story, and fellowship will enrich the walk with Jesus we will share.
Salem is combining with Ascension Lutheran and Christ Episcopal for services at 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Palm/Passion Sunday

Today's liturgy begins with a palm procession, commemorating Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Quickly the tone of the service changes as we meditate upon Jesus' passion and death. Because this story is so central to our faith, we hear Matthew's account of the passion today and John's version on Good Friday. Though Jesus is obedient even unto death on the cross, he is exalted by God. We gather to remember his offering for the life of the world, and to be fed by his life-giving mercy. This holy week will culminate in the celebration of the Three Days of Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection.

​Maundy Thursday

With nightfall our Lenten observance comes to an end, and we gather with Christians around the world to celebrate the Three Days of Jesus' death and resurrection. At the heart of the Maundy Thursday liturgy is Jesus' commandment to love one another. As Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, we are called to follow his example as we humbly care for one another, especially the poor and the unloved. At the Lord's table we remember Jesus' sacrifice of his life, even as we are called to offer ourselves in love for the life of the world.

Good Friday​

At the heart of the Good Friday liturgy is the passion according to John, which proclaims Jesus as a triumphant king who reigns from the cross. The ancient title for this day—the triumph of the cross—reminds us that the church gathers not to mourn this day but to celebrate Christ's life-giving passion and to find strength and hope in the tree of life. In the ancient bidding prayer we offer petitions for all the world for whom Christ died.

Easter Festival Service

On this day the Lord has acted! On the first day of the week God began creation transforming darkness into light. On this, the "eighth day" of the week, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. We celebrate this new creation in the waters of baptism and in the feast of victory With great joy we celebrate this day of days, even as we begin the fifty days of Easter. Filled with hope, we go forth to share the good news that Christ is risen!

Pentecost

On the fiftieth day of Easter we celebrate the Spirit, through whom and in whom the people of God are created and re-created. Pentecost is sometimes called the church’s birthday, but might more appropriately be called its baptism day, since the gift of the Spirit is the fullness of baptism. Ezekiel’s vision shows the Spirit resurrecting and re-creating not just individuals but a whole people. Romans makes it clear that God is in the process of re-creating the entire cosmos; yet the Spirit is also at work in the most intimate and personal way, praying in us “with sighs too deep for words” when we do not know how to pray.

            All Saints Day

 All Saints celebrates the baptized people of God, living and dead, who are the body of Christ.  As November heralds the dying of landscape in many northern regions, the readings and liturgy call us to remember all who have died in Christ and whose baptism is complete.  At the Lord's table we gather with the faithful of every time and place, trusting that the promises of God will be fulfilled and that all tears will be wiped away in the new Jerusalem.