What are Holy Week Services?
(This brief article will explain in part
the basis of our traditional Holy Week services. If services like these are not
a part of your tradition, perhaps you will consider initiating some or all of
these into your worship experiences. Sections of this page may be adapted for
bulletin announcements for your Holy Week worship schedule. )
Holy Week Services
During the week before Resurrection Sunday
(Easter) we will relive the experiences of Jesus over the last few days before
his crucifixion. We encourage you to read Matthew 26, Mark 11 -14 to refresh
your memory of what Jesus experienced. Our Holy Week services will be:
Palm Sunday - Just five days before
he was crucified, Jesus was publicly welcomed into Jerusalem and the temple.
People hailed him as king of the Jews.
Wednesday we will have our
Tenebrae
service - the service of darkness where we read the entire passion of Christ.
Maundy Thursday - The night before
Jesus was betrayed, he gathered all of his disciples together for dinner.
Because he loved all them and wanted to continue teaching them about God's
perspective on their lives, he initiated a very humble form of service to them
by washing their feet. His last supper with them became what we now know as the
celebration of the first Eucharist - the Great Thanksgiving or Communion. A
major part of our Maundy Thursday worship will be our celebration of communion
as well as washing each other's feet as a symbol of our love and humility toward
one another.
Good Friday - On Friday, Jesus was
betrayed by Judas, publicly tried and crucified and died a very painful death,
in accordance with the eternal design by our heavenly Father. He died not for
what he had done, rather what all others had done, both past, present and even
we have done after his suffering. We will celebrate a drama of scripture and
visual aids that will recall the sacrifice He made on our behalf and clearly
focus the love he has for us. Just as that Friday ended in great sadness and
death for our Lord, we will end our services not on a point of exuberance rather
with the assurance that His work of suffering is sufficient for our needs. We
will solemnly sing together as the altar is stripped and then leave the worship
in silence and move to our reenactment Garden of Gethsemane where people will
take turns praying all night;
Holy Saturday - The Easter Vigil,
Following sundown on Saturday we begin the celebration of Jesus' resurrection.
The service starts with a candelight procession into the church. We participate
in the transition from the remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice of his life for us to
the joy of his resurrection from the dead. The priest will say, "The Lord is
risen!" and we respond by saying, "He is risen indeed! Alleluia!" At this point
in the service are all invited to bring bells together. Throughout the service
we also will sing joyful hymns about our risen Lord.
Resurrection Sunday (Easter) - We
will continue the celebration of joy of the physical resurrection of our Lord.
Our worship together will be quite festive and will give each of us the
opportunity to offer praise and thanksgiving to our Father who gave his Son so
that we might live eternally with Him. We will offer praise and thanksgiving to
Jesus who was restored to life by the Father and we will offer praise and
thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit who continues His active work in our lives
today.
Please join us at each of these services so
that you too will have the benefit of identifying with Jesus' experiences during
this very important week in his life. You will be able to identify with the
rejection and pain that he felt. We will celebrate the joy of the physical
resurrection of our Lord. Our worship together will be solemn as well as quite
festive as will be appropriate.