SPECIAL SERVICES

Thanksgiving

Lake Arrowhead Community Presbyterian Church and the congregation of St. Richard’s continue a tradition of 20+ years of a JOINT CELEBRATION of Thanksgiving!  We celebrate the Sunday before Thanksgiving to free everyone for the festivities and meal preparation of Thanksgiving at home on Thanksgiving Day.  We alternate churches for the celebration, with the pastor from the other church preaching.

Christmas Eve

As with most congregations, Christmas is a special time at LACPC. Each Christmas Eve, we have two services, with a Deacon sponsored Soup Supper between them. Our 5:00 PM Christmas Eve service includes a Christmas play by our youth, which features our children’s Christmas Pageant. This service also includes lessons and carols.  At 7:30 PM, after nourishment and fellowship at our Soup Supper, we worship with our traditional services of lessons and carols, which includes choral music and bells, and features soloists and a variety of instruments.

Ash Wednesday

On Ash Wednesday, we begin our journey to Easter with the sign of ashes, an ancient sign, that speaks of the frailty and uncertainty of human life and marks the penitence of this community.  

Holy Week

Holy Week begins as the children wave palm branches down the aisle on Palm Sunday!  Our Handbell Choir also plays several uplifting melodies! Worshiping in the round, our Maundy Thursday service takes place at 7:30 PM in an intimate, candlelit worship space around the communion table. There we celebrate Communion as we commemorate Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, praying and singing in a contemplative atmosphere.  On Good Friday, our Sanctuary is open all day long.  We worship at 7:30 PM with lessons and carols in a Service of Tenebrae (Shadows) in which we experience a single gospel writer’s account of Jesus’ Passion, ending in the dark as we sing “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?”

Easter

Alleluias resound as we lift our voices in praise to God, celebrating that the Lord Jesus is Risen indeed! Following participation in our community’s Sunrise Service down by the lake, members of the church serve a bountiful breakfast which is open until 9:30 AM. There are egg hunts for children and youth, and the butterflies that the children have grown from caterpillars are released in our courtyard symbolizing Jesus’ resurrection!  At 10:00 AM, we worship God with enthusiasm and joy, as we participate in the Easter call and response: The Lord is Risen; He is Risen indeed!