In Pastor Jeff’s message in the April issue of The Heart Beat, LCH’s monthly parish newsletter, he described the services of the Triduum, the “Three Days” celebrated by Christians all over the world in anticipation of Easter. That means we’ll be singing services on Maundy Thursday (April 5th), Good Friday (April 6th) and Easter Vigil (April 7th). Pastor Jeff then added “Plus One” to signify that “not all is over!” referring to the celebration of Easter on Sunday, April 8th.

However, for the LCH Choir who will rehearse on Wednesday night, April 4th, it will mean 3+1 = 5. It will be five days in a row that we will ensconsce ourselves at 1730 Punahou Street in either a rehearsal or a service.

Hey, I just saw this banner on Scott Weidler’s FaceBook page (he’s an ALCM colleague) which shows the times of the services at his church, Immanuel Lutheran in Chicago, IL. The services are identical to that of LCH’s except that here we also hold services at 8:00 am and 9:00 pm on Easter Day.

For many years the choir’s dress rehearsal for Easter Day was either Monday or Tuesday of Holy Week, so this year’s Wednesday dress rehearsal is a little unusual. However it won’t be the first time that the choir will be asked to show up five days in a row — many years ago we sang a joint Tenebrae service with the St. Andrew’s Cathedral choir on Wednesday of Holy Week. That year, though, we had our dress rehearsal for Easter on Monday — so we got Tuesday night off before our five nights in a row.

Whatever — the Holy Week marathon begins!