A Holy Week

Sometimes it seems like it is feast or famine.

It is all or nothing.

It is chaos or calm.

This is Holy Week. A week that is set apart, a week that is specifically set aside to reflect upon what happened 2000 years ago in Jerusalem. A week with high highs and low lows.

During a week that is so big, that is so full, that we see so much of what God has done and is doing, it is also a week where we have so many people in town.

It is a bit of a feast, a bit of chaos, a bit of everything.

With that, here are some things you need to know regarding getting to The Chapel, parking, and all the various worship services throughout the rest of Holy Week.

• Roads are closed this week around Seaside to curb traffic through the neighborhoods. From 10:30am-10:00 pm through Friday, April 7th, most residential streets will be blocked and there will be controlled entry and exit points. Odessa Street, Savannah Street, and Seaside Avenue will be accessible for entry and exit for those staying in Seaside or trying to get to worship. With that being said, Odessa will get you to the paid parking lot around the Lyceum and Seaside School and Savannah will get you to The Chapel. There should not be any road closures Easter morning.
• There are a few parking options to help guide getting to The Chapel during this busy season.
  • Park at Seaside/Watercolor Public Parking-On the west end of Seaside and east end of Watercolor just off of 30A is free public parking. 20 Western Lake Dr, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459. It is a short walk down 30A or up through the neighborhood to get to The Chapel and it’s free.
  • Grayton Parking and Shuttle-Seaside Shuttle runs shuttles about every 15 minutes and picks up from the public parking lot on 283 South, directly across from the Shops of Grayton located in Grayton Beach from 6 a.m. Park in the lower lot and you are dropped off under the Lyceum Archway in the center of Seaside.
  • Paid Parking-Seaside’s parking program uses a parking app called Passport Parking. Parking rates will vary by day/time. For more information about parking in Seaside, check out their post from seasidefl.com.
  • Walk or Ride-If you have the ability to walk or ride bikes to The Chapel this week, that will likely be your best bet.
• Kids Church-There will be no Kids Church this week for our mid-week services and none on Easter Sunday. Kids Church will return on Sunday, April 16th.
• Thursday we will have a Maundy Thursday Communion Service at 6pm at The Chapel. This is a service where we remember Jesus sharing his last supper with his disciples and commanding them to share this meal with one another. The call is to remember Jesus every time we gather with others over bread and wine and know that Christ is with us. We will have individual communion elements and we will also have a common bread and cup. You are invited to participate in whichever you feel most comfortable with. Regarding the common bread and cup, we will share by practicing intinction. This is a fancy way to say “dipping”. We will hand you the piece of bread and you will dip it in the juice.
• Friday we will have a Good Friday Service at 6pm at The Chapel. This is the service where we remember Jesus’ death. It is a dark and difficult service, but it is a vital service for us to be able to celebrate Easter. We are particularly excited about the music at the Good Friday Service. Both the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services will be less than an hour.
• Sunday we will have 3 Easter Services. 6am sunrise service on the beach in Seaside and an 8:30am and 10am service at The Chapel.
  • The Sunrise service will be accessible through the Coleman Pavilion. That is the iconic Seaside Beach access pavilion with the large white obelisk. We invite you to bring your beach blanket or chairs and worship with us as we watch the sunrise to illuminate the darkness. This one can obviously accommodate the most amount of people and so it is a lovely one to attend if you can. If for some reason weather presents an issue for the sunrise services, we will still gather, but it will be at The Chapel. Please follow our social media @TheChapelAtSeaside on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date.
  • The 8:30 is historically the lowest attended service, so if you are looking to avoid crowds, that is likely your best bet. We will have a tent outside the Chapel for the 8:30 and the 10am service. So you can sit inside the Chapel, in the grove area, or on the lawn under the tent. 10am is usually are largest service, so be aware that there will be parking challenges and seating challenges at that later service.
• SEASIDE is having an Easter Celebration on Sunday from 11:00am – 2:00pmwith face paintings, photos with the Easter Bunny, and an eggstravaganza egg hunt. So after worship, we invite you to check out the additional fun and celebration. For more info, go to SEASIDEFL.com.

This is a busy week in so many ways, but it often isn’t the busy and chaos where we hear or experience God. It is in the quiet and still moments. Even in the chaos and plans of this week, I invite you to slow down, to listen for our creator, sustainer, and redeemer, and see what is being said.

Easter can just blow on by like a “lame Christmas”, or it can be a week where you encounter the divine.

Join us as we draw close, as we still our hearts and minds, and listen for the voice of God.

Let us know if you have any questions and we look forward to worshiping with you this week/weekend.

For the Easter/Lent resources, go to thechapelatseaside.com/easter.

Blessings,

Andrew