Great Vigil of Easter service at Mount Union Church
UPPER TURKEYFOOT TWP. ― The historic Mount Union Church will celebrate the Great Vigil of Easter at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Rev. Valerie Stark of the Confluence Global Methodist Church will be the guest minister. Guest soloists will be Nancy Webb, Danny Conner, Andrea Illar Falchek and Frank Illar.
The Great Vigil of Easter dates back to a time when Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and Easter were celebrated as a single liturgy that began Saturday night and continued until dawn on Easter Sunday. The Great Vigil of Easter has both historic and symbolic roots in the Jewish Passover.
Today's celebration of the vigil has been made much shorter for three different services that have been taken from this service. Many churches today have shortened "The Service of the Word," one of the four parts of the Vigil of Easter. The Mount Union Church has always celebrated the shorter service of the Great Vigil of Easter. The service will also celebrate Communion.
The church was built in 1861 during the Civil War. It is located near Casselman and Kingwood, on the corner of Mount Union Road and Turkeyfoot Trail Road in Upper Turkeyfoot Township.
Mount Union Church closed its doors in 1970 for regular services. The church is open only for special services like the Great Vigil of Easter. For more information, contact 814-926-3142.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Great Vigil of Easter at Mount Union Church
