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The Great Vigil of Easter at Trinity

According to the rubrics, the Great Vigil is the first service of Easter Day, and is celebrated between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Morning (BCP, page 284).  

For the Great Vigil of 2003, Trinity welcomed as special guests the Reverend Eileen L. Epperson as assisting clergy, and the Choir of the First Presbyterian Church of Millerton, augmenting the Trinity Choir, under the direction of Christine Gevert.  

The Liturgy of the Word included several readings:

• The story creation (Genesis 1: 1-12), read by Paige Alford

• Israel's deliverance at the Red Sea (Exodus 14: 10 - 15: 1), read by Bob Snyder

• Salvation offered freely to all (Isaiah 55: 1-11), read by Marion McGee

• The Valley of the Dry Bones (Ezekial 37: 1-15), read by Al Dorf

• The Gathering of God's People (Zepheniah 3: 12-20), read by Linda Lloyd

• Psalm 98, sung by the combined choirs

Following the Collect, the Celebrant proclaims "Alleluia! Christ is risen!" and the people respond "The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!"

At that point Easter begins.  The church bell is rung, the lights come on, the candles on the altar lighted, and the combined choirs sing an anthem --  in this case, Handel's Hallelujah Chorus.

The Collect of Easter, followed by Danielle Gaherty reading the Epistle (Romans 6: 3-11), and, as a Gradual Hymn, The Day of Resurrection, precede the Gospel Alleluia, the Holy Gospel (Mark 16: 1 - 18), and the Homily.

Baptismal Vows are renewed, followed by the Prayers of the People and the Peace of Christ.

The Offertory Anthem was a duet of Handel's How beautiful are the feet, sung by Counter-tenor Randy Orzano and alto Nancy Martin, followed by the combined choirs singing Break forth into joy.

Holy Communion followed, and the Recessional Hymn was the familiar Jesus Christ is risen today.

For a Postlude, Christine Gevert played J. S. Bach's Fantasia in G Major.

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