Momentous Patriots’ Day Coming Soon
Dear Redeemer,
A very momentous Patriots’ Day is approaching! Not only does the weekend of April 18 - 20, 2025 fall during Holy Week, it is also the 250th celebration of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. There will be a lot going on!
There is a lot of information about the Lex250 celebrations on the Lex250 website. This email is to provide you with information about our worship services and Lex250 events that Redeemer is involved in, and about logistical information for the weekend.
There are many, many moving pieces, and this information is as up-to-date as we have. Should information change, we will continue to keep you updated through all-parish emails and on social media as needed.
We will also be holding a Zoom information session this Thursday, April 10th at 7:30 pm.
You are all welcome to join. Megan and Sam will share this information again, and answer any questions you may have.
The Zoom link for the April 10th information session is here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89641246617
There is a lot of information in this email. We have tried breaking it down by topic to make it easier to find the answers you might be looking for. Please know that we are happy to answer other questions as they arise.
EVENTS
The town has a list of all the Lex250 events in Lexington between April 17 and April 23.
Redeemer itself will be hosting worship and Lex250 events as set forth below. The Lexington Food Pantry will not be opening that weekend.
Worship
Our worship schedule is the same as it is every other Holy Week:
Friday, April 18 at 10:00am: Stations of the Cross for all ages
Friday, April 18 at 7:30pm: Good Friday Service with Veneration of the Cross
Saturday, April 19 at 7:30pm: The Great Vigil of Easter
Sunday, April 20 at 9:30am: Easter Sunday Service (with Easter Egg Hunt following)
Pancake Breakfast and Hot Dog Stand
In addition to our annual pancake breakfast (with proceeds supporting LexRap), we will be hosting a hot dog stand on Saturday (with proceeds supporting COR).
For the pancake breakfast, there will be volunteer shifts on Friday afternoon, and again Saturday between 3:00am and 9:30am. Doors will open early this year only for media personnel parking in our lot; doors will open to the public at 6:00am.
Volunteers will begin setting up for the hot dog stand at 8:30am Saturday. The stand will be open 10:00am-1:00pm.
We still need volunteers for both efforts – to volunteer for the pancake breakfast, reach out to Sam Stevens (781-879-8437); to volunteer for the hot dog stand, reach out to Steve Burns (978-902-1437) or Sam Stevens.
ROAD CLOSURES AND PARKING AT COR
Lexington Police have shared a map of planned road closures. It is part of a series of Google maps which also show the location of First Aid stations, food stations, all sorts of things. To see the road closures, scroll down the list of possible maps on the left side and click the box for the Road Closures Map
From Friday, April 18th at 8:00 pm until Saturday, April 19th at 6:00 pm,
Mass Ave will be closed between Forest St. and Waltham St. and
Meriam Street will be closed from Patriots Drive to Mass Ave.
This means that the part of Meriam Street from which we approach our parking lot will be closed during those times. To access and park in our lot, you will need parking credentials (see below).
There will be a police detail at the corner of Meriam and Patriots Drive (the intersection by our Labyrinth); those officers will assist with our coming and going while the road is closed.
Impact Road Closures will Have on Parking at COR
April 18th, Good Friday
Road Closures will Have Little Effect on Parking for the Good Friday Evening Service
Meriam Street will not be closed until after our 7:30pm Good Friday evening service has begun. To come to the service, you will be able to drive up Meriam St. to the COR lot as usual and enter without a problem (unless you are 30+ minutes late!).
When leaving the Friday evening service, you will need to take a left and head away from the church toward Patriots Drive (the intersection by our Labyrinth). The police detail will let you pass through to leave.
April 19th, Holy Saturday
Accessing our Lot to Volunteer for Pancake Breakfast, Hot Dog Stand, and/or Easter Vigil Preparations
While much of our parking lot will be used by the town for Media and Minutemen parking, we have reserved 34 parking spots for our own use. At this moment, those spots are those marked in blue on this map. Should the location of our reserved spots within our lot change, it will be marked.
All staff and volunteers who wish to access and park in our lot between 8:00pm Friday and 6:00pm Saturday must have credentials to do so (see below).
Road Closures will End at 6:00pm on Saturday and Not Affect Those Attending the Easter Vigil
Because the roads will re-open at 6:00pm on Holy Saturday, our parking lot will be accessible and available for anyone attending the service.
If you need to arrive before 6:00pm, you will still need credentials; if you arrive any time after 6:00pm for the 7:30pm service, you will be fine.
Credentials to Park at COR
All staff and volunteers will need parking credentials to access and park in the COR lot between 8:00pm Friday, April 18 and 6:00pm Saturday, April 19.
Credentials will be placards for your car, which we will receive from Lexington Police during the week prior to the events (Holy Week).
If you are planning on volunteering for the Pancake Breakfast or Hot Dog Stand, and/or if you have responsibilities with regard to preparations for the Easter Vigil, you must have a placard to pass through the police detail at the corner of Patriots Drive and Meriam Street.
Sam has a list of folks who have signed up to date, which includes staff, Altar Guild, folks who have signed up for Pancake Breakfast / Hot Dog Stand shifts to this point. If you have not signed up, or if you are not sure, please contact Sam by Sunday, April 13th – Palm Sunday – so he has the correct number of placards.
Placards will be available for pick up in the office during business hours Wednesday, April 16th-Friday, April 18th. They will also be available at the church after the Maundy Thursday service.
Extensive “No Parking" Zone Beyond the Road Closures
Please note, if you are planning on driving, parking away from COR, and walking to COR, a strict No Parking zone extends well beyond the road closures.
To see a map of the No Parking Zone, scroll down the list of maps on the left hand side of the LPD Google maps and click the box next to “No Parking (strictly enforced).”
Satellite Parking / Shuttle Service
If you know folks coming to Lexington for the festivities, please encourage them to utilize the Satellite parking / shuttle service provided by the Town. This will help the town manage traffic around this event.
SECURITY
Because it is a significant anniversary, Lexington is expecting large crowds for the Patriots’ Day events this year. While they are only estimates, the town is expecting we could have 25,000 people attending the reenactment on Saturday morning, and 100,000 people visiting our town over the course of the weekend.
Such large crowds, the presence of media, and the importance of this particular event mean that there are heightened security risks – real risks which the town is taking seriously, and for which there will be heightened security measures taken.
Lexington Police have assured Redeemer representatives and LICA members that local, state, and federal law enforcement are paying close attention to the preparations and plans for Lex250. In addition to what we share here, there are many security measures in place which we cannot be told about.
We do know that there will be a heightened law enforcement presence, with uniformed and un-uniformed local, state, and federal officials present throughout the weekend.
Police presence around COR (not assigned to us in particular, but stationed near us) will include:
Uniformed detail at intersection of Patriots Drive and Meriam Street (one officer between 8:00pm Friday and 3:00am Saturday; two officers between 3:00am Saturday and 6:00pm Saturday)
Additional police presence near the bike path / rear of COR lot
Military vehicle parked nearby
COR’s own security steps
To keep our own building secure, the only doors that will be unlocked at all on Saturday are the doors through which folks will enter / exit the Pancake Breakfast. All other doors will remain locked between our Good Friday service and the Easter Vigil. We will also be locking all internal doors that lock.
We will keep the front church lights and all of our spotlights turned on overnight Friday into Saturday.
Protesters / Free Speech Zone
While Free Speech is protected speech under the First Amendment, local authorities are allowed to limit its expression in time, place, and manner.
The town has set aside a “Free Speech Zone” where they will direct protest groups. It is on or around the Green near the Mass Ave / Hancock St. / Bedford St. rotary.
The Town of Lexington does not require protesters to pull permits to protest or gather in town. One group (a gun rights group) has pulled a permit, but that is all we know of for sure.
Oath Keepers often come to Lexington on Patriots’ Day as it is a day of significance to them – they usually gather before the reenactment and leave after a short time. There is an understanding that some number of Proud Boys may attend the events this year. Law enforcement is preparing with the assumption that representatives of these groups and other similar groups might be present. They cannot share much more with us. They did tell us that the best response we can have if we are provoked is to walk away.
Specific Threats
Local, state and federal officials are monitoring potential threats around this event. To date there are no specific threats. They have assured us that they will contact representatives of all the faith communities immediately if they learn of any specific threat. They have been in touch with LICA leadership about how best to contact us should this arise. And we would pass on any information to our communities.
Dignitaries
Members of local, state, and federal government, and the House of Windsor have all been invited to the Lex250 events.
With two exceptions, the presence of any such dignitaries would not change security measures in any way that we would notice.
The exceptions are the President and Vice-President of the United States. To date, they have not told Lexington whether they are attending. Lexington Police do not expect we would know for sure until shortly before the event.
If either the President or the Vice-President attend, the Secret Service would take over all security measures and there would likely be changes that impact us to some degree. If this happens, we will get information through the Town, decide along with the Vestry whether we need to alter our own plans in any way, and communicate with the parish through email and, if necessary or appropriate, through social media.
OUR BAPTISMAL COVENANT
Because our conversation about signs is currently in abeyance, we do not have signs in front of our church (other than the LICA sign approved by the Vestry in December, 2023).
Many parishioners raised the question of whether we might hang signs that would help show the many visitors to Lex250 what we believe.
After conversation with the Evangelism and Outreach Committee and others, and with the approval of the Evangelism and Outreach Committee, we have ordered a set of lawn signs on which are printed the vows of our Baptismal Covenant. These will go on our lawn through Easter and will help us spread the word of what is at the core of our faith. And, because we will renew those vows at the Easter Vigil, it is a very appropriate time for us to hold them in mind ourselves!
FINAL THOUGHTS
With so much information and so many moving parts, it can be easy to get lost in the details of Holy Week and Lex250 preparations and lose sight of what it is that is making this particular weekend so busy.
Over the weekend of April 18-April 20, 2025, we are proclaiming and celebrating truths at the very core of faith and civic lives.
As we move through the holiest days of our liturgical calendar, we affirm and celebrate that our God can and does redeem even the worst of our experiences and brings us always to new life.
As we gather to remember a band of ordinary people who took a stand for democracy, we affirm again that we too strive to maintain a society in which every person can pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
In both our faith lives and our civic lives, we are called to care for one another and work to heal this world.
In the midst of all the details of Holy Week/Lex250, may we each find a way to remember and celebrate what we are commemorating and re-commit ourselves to living our calls as fully and faithfully as we can.
In Christ’s peace,
Megan+ and Sam