RUMFORD – Many churches in the River Valley will celebrate Holy Week beginning with Maundy Thursday services and ending with Easter Sunday.

Maundy Thursday commemorates the first holy communion performed by Christ and his washing of the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. Good Friday is the day Christ was crucified on the cross in Golgotha.

Holy Saturday was the day of entombment for Christ, and the day between the crucifixion and the resurrection. In some churches, it is a day of quiet as preparations are made for the Easter vigil.

Many churches hold Easter sunrise services, which symbolize Christ rising from the dead.

Maundy Thursday

Andover First Congregational Church, 5:30 p.m. with a light meal, communion, handwashing and a garden meditation

Rumford United Methodist Church, 7 p.m., combined service with the Mexico Congregational Church to include a tableau of the Last Supper and communion

Rumford St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, 7 p.m., holy communion

Good Friday

Andover Calvary Congregational Church, 6:30 p.m.

Andover Congregational Church, 7 p.m.

Bryant Pond Baptist Church, 6:30 p.m.

Mexico Congregational Church, 7 p.m., combined service with the Rumford United Methodist Church to include the combined choirs and a reader’s presentation of the Stations of the Cross

Rumford St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, 7 p.m.

Holy Saturday

Rumford’s Mountain Valley High School Muskie Auditorium, 2 p.m., performance of the Martyrs of Christ by Crosswinds. Admission.

Easter Sunrise

Andover Calvary Congregational Church, 6:30 a.m., followed by breakfast

Dixfield Congregational Church, 6 a.m. followed by breakfast

Mexico Mountain Valley Middle School, 6 a.m., ecumenical service followed by breakfast at Rumford United Methodist Church

Easter Sunday

Andover Calvary Congregational Church, 10:45 a.m.

Andover Congregational Church, 10 a.m.

Bryant Pond Baptist Church, 10:30 a.m.

Dixfield Congregational Church, 10 a.m.

Mexico Congregational Church, 10 a.m.

Rumford United Methodist Church, 11 a.m.

Rumford St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, 9:30 a.m.

eadams@sunjournal.com