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Lisa Nance Trinity Presbyterian Church Raleigh, NC Michael, I want to thank you from my heart for the wonderful haggadah that you put together for our Christian Seder. My senior minister had serious concerns about doing a "Jewish" service for our church. He didn't want to offend our Jewish brothers and sisters by Christianizing a Jewish holiday. I had used your service for the youth group in early April, so, after much theological debate, I offered him your service. He absolutely loved it! We didn't incorporate the full-blown meal, but we did the rest. Afterwards, he commented that the only thing he would like to change next year is that we do the whole service, including the meal! It was a wonderful experience that gave my congregation some insight into the life of our Lord. The words that you used were a gift to us from God. May God continue to bless you richly with the talent to lead others into a deeper relationship, not only with God, but also with one another! In Christ, Lisa |
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Catherine Cast St. Therese Church Stony Creek, Conn. Dear Michael, Your Christian Haggadah and Website were most helpful as we, The Parish of St. Therese in Stony Creek, Conn., held our first Passover Seder. It was a wonderful experience for approximately 150 people, mostly adults, 35 from our youth group and a few younger children. Next year planning will be easier for our Liturgy and Education Committees but we definitely plan on making it an annual celebration during Holy Week. Thank you and have a holy, happy Easter. Sincerely, Catherine R. Cast |
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Janet Gogins New Thing Ministries Chicago, IL Michael Roepke, Last evening, my prayer group celebrated a Christian Seder for the second year in a row and once again, were immensely blessed to partake of such a holy and sweet communion with the Lord. Coming out from under a particular religious background, God has moved me to where I have opportunity to receive the teaching that I need for these times. I had never experienced such teachings of the Passover as I have these past 2 years. I never knew such holy communion could be experienced during "Communion!" I never knew that Passover was an answer to prayer! I never knew that Passover even involved partaking of the Holy Sacraments. I never knew how much Jesus was in the celebration and remembrance of Passover. I never knew how much Jesus desires for us, even now, to share Passover with Him. Last night during the seder, I saw nothing but Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! I am thankful to God for my ministry leader who has a spiritually sensitive heart towards the things of God and freely shares the wonderful manna from heaven with all of us who have hungry hearts for a deeper understanding of God's word and will for our lives. Through Jesus Christ, God showed Himself in a strong way at our gathering, and elevated our faith to another level in Him. Testimonies of deliverance, great expectations, and other miracles have already begun to pour in from those who were present last evening. I have a personal expectation to receive from God an unfolding into an even greater and divine revelation of His person; and also for the miraculous concerning myself. I look forward to experiencing even more of Jesus in days ahead and am glad to know that people like yourself are also experiencing Jesus Christ through Passover! May God continue to richly bless you and your fellowship of believers! Your website asked for ministry information of those of us who celebrate a Christian Seder. Blessings, Janet Gogins |
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Jim Keefe Sacred Heart Church Lexington MA Dear Michael, Just a short note to let you know that we did do the Christian Seder. For the past 6 years, we have performed the Passio, a mime/movement interpretation of the Passion of Our Lord to Barber's"Adagio". Very moving, but not a great turn-out. This year I convinced them to have the seder first and follow it with the Passio. When the ad first went up and the insert in the bulletin, 7 people responded. By the weekend, we had 38. We were all very disappointed until I realized that the personal touch always works. Following each Mass, the week before April 6, I signed people up, not taking any money, and told them I needed a count for the caterer (one of our parishioners did the meal-matzoh ball soup, salad and Kugel). We charged $6 per person, with a $20 cap per family. By Sunday we had 102 people and by Tuesday morning, we needed to stop at 148. At this point the office turned away another couple dozen. We did the seder, had a candlelight procession across the street to the church, entered into the passio in silence and left after the performance in silence. Some people who couldn't come to the seder decided to go just to the Passio. Before this night there were maybe 35-40 people in attendance. On April 6 the church was packed and it holds 350! The parishioner performers were floored and could not believe the response. We have already planned for the Friday before the beginning of Holy Week for next year, the local cable will be filming and we hope that people will be able to enter into our holiest season in a new tradition. To be honest, 150 people is probably max. Thank you for your web site, it was truly a source that made me believe that the seder I wanted to do, could truly be a Christian Seder in the Jewish tradition. Joyfully in Christ, Jim Keefe |
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Joanie Levenson Central Baptist Theological Seminary Kansas City, Ks Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Michael. In preparation for preaching my third-ever sermon (I'm a seminary student at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, KS), I encountered a significant challenge with the congregational leg of the 'Aristotilian Triangle' ... Not only will I be preaching for my church, but for the members of the church in whose building we meet. Additionally, I'll be preaching the same sermon again two days later for my fellow seminarians in class (and associate professor, Mike Graves). As if this 'mixed crowd' was not intimidating enough, the Sunday I'm preaching is Palm Sunday! While this date could be considered a solution to my problem by some -- i.e., when in doubt about the 'felt needs' of the audience, rely on tradition and 'preach the season' -- for me, this initially further complicated my dilemma. I was raised in the Jewish tradition, and have had very limited exposure to the traditional Christian expectations for Holy Week celebration. Nevertheless, for authenticity's sake, I realized that I had to speak from the tradition with which I'm most familiar. I have always felt that part of my calling to Christian ministry revolves around what my Jewish experience might contribute to enriching the Christian understanding of who Jesus was, and this certainly seems like one of those moments to be listening to that part of my call. So, I decided to focus on the part of Holy Week that is nearest to my heart. Most of my warmest childhood memories involve the celebration of Passover. As a result, even in my pre-Christian days, I have always had a curiosity and an affinity for the part of the passion story that involves that celebration. At one point several years ago, I even felt led to put together a Communion service that combined Jewish prayers, traditional Christian elements, lots of community singing, and encouragement for participants to renew their connection to the deep meaning of the traditional symbols. I have brought this service to several churches around the country, and have been humbled and blessed by the response. Clearly my sermon had to revolve around the Last Supper. So... I went digging around in Google's search engine ... Over 400,000 items under Last Supper ! Oy vey! And praise God that I persisted long enough to find your website! My only regret is that I didn't find it until now. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to launch a seder for this Easter season. I have actually been thinking about that for a couple of years now, but having just finished reviewing your online manuscript about your first seder experience at Northway, I am encouraged to do a lot more than just think about it. (Next year 'in Jerusalem'!!!) How grateful I am to read about the work of a Christian who fully honors the depth and significance of the Passover, and who is helping other Christians to have that experience for themselves. I imagine that Jesus is smiling, just as I am. (And not just because I've gotten some rich new sermon food!) I trust that the gift you are sharing will not only bless others but will bring many future blessings to you and to your work. Thank you, again. In the name of our "wonderful guide" and Messiah, Joanie Levenson |
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Bette Nusz Jacksonville, FL We had our Christian Haggadah with our Sunday School Class in our home last evening. It was very meaningful. Most of the participants had no idea what it was all about until we did it. It is surprising how many of the Baptist faith have no idea what a Seder is, even those in top positions. Anyway, it went well, thanks to your information and the copies of the Haggadah. Thank you very much. In Christ, Bette Nusz |
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Jack deJarnette Perdido Bay UMC Pensacola, Florda Our Seder was an outstanding success. We had 143 participants. We did not use your order since we had so many reservations and didn';t want to plagerize your material. We did use similar information collected from various sources. We served a full meal with a lamb stew that is centuries old along with the other traditional foods. We were together about two and one half hours and every one had a wonderful time as well as learning a great deal about our faith traditions. Thanks for being an encouragement to us and to others. Next year we plan to be in a new facility and will open our Christian Seder Meal to the public. In His service, Jack deJarnette |
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Hugh Kahler St. Paul's Episcopal Church Marquette, MI Dear Michael, Three years ago two ladies from Saint Paul's came to me, (I think the rector sicked them on me.) and told me about a seder that they had done in their home churches. They asked if I would lead the effort to have a seder at Saint Paul's? I said, "Why not?" Why not indeed. I checked with the rector who gave me his copy of Haggadah (The script for the Passover Seder.) I talked with the Bishop who gave me his copy of Haggadah. I also was able to find one on the net. The three were not quite the same, but the general outline was clear. Haggadah is the story of the "Passover" the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. This is most important for the Jews because it is the beginning of the Jewish Nation. I took the best parts of each Haggadah and came up with a fourth version. In checking with the local Rabbi, what I did was all right since I told the story of the Passover as it is in Torah. This thing really works. If you would like, and you provide me with a street address, I will send you a copy of my version. No Charge! Note also: The main character is Moses. If you are "Up on the Bible," there is a whole book about this. The second book of the Hebrew (Old) Testament is Exodus. Yes, I'm smart and a Professor of Physics but I did not write the Book of Exodus. (And I do, sometimes, pull peoples legs. Did you feel a little tug?) The whole thing is a lot of fun and hard work and it is one more building block making the congregation part of a family of God, along with others in the Marquette area. Questions? Please ask. ( Who? The two ladies are (Mrs.) Barbara Benstrom and (Mrs.) Jennifer Lynn.) Special foods are outlined in Haggadah. ( Zeroah, Reitzah, Moror, Karpas, & Charoset.) May there be peace to your house. Hugh. |
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Janet Gogins New Thing Ministry Chicago, Il Michael Roepke, Last evening, my prayer group celebrated a Christian Seder for the second year in a row and once again, were immensely blessed to partake of such a holy and sweet communion with the Lord. Coming out from under a particular religious background, God has moved me to where I have opportunity to receive the teaching that I need for these times. I had never experienced such teachings of the Passover as I have these past 2 years. I never knew such holy communion could be experienced during "Communion!" I never knew that Passover was an answer to prayer! I never knew that Passover even involved partaking of the Holy Sacraments. I never knew how much Jesus was in the celebration and remembrance of Passover. I never knew how much Jesus desires for us, even now, to share Passover with Him. Last night during the seder, I saw nothing but Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! I am thankful to God for my ministry leader who has a spiritually sensitive heart towards the things of God and freely shares the wonderful manna from heaven with all of us who have hungry hearts for a deeper understanding of God's word and will for our lives. Through Jesus Christ, God showed Himself in a strong way at our gathering, and elevated our faith to another level in Him. Testimonies of deliverance, great expectations, and other miracles have already begun to pour in from those who were present last evening. I have a personal expectation to receive from God an unfolding into an even greater and divine revelation of His person; and also for the miraculous concerning myself. I look forward to experiencing even more of Jesus in days ahead and am glad to know that people like yourself are also experiencing Jesus Christ through Passover! May God continue to richly bless you and your fellowship of believers! Blessings, Janet Gogins |
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