Pastor Jim Clarke    Pastor Paula McCutcheon

Holy Week Services…Why we need to attend.

Holy Week Services are critical to my ability to experience Easter in the most full, meaningful and celebrative way possible.  I want to urge each and everyone of you to attend these services.  I share these words in hopes that these special worship services will become a part of your Lent to Easter spiritual journey.

Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, which is either celebrated in a joyous way remembering Jesus entrance into Jerusalem or in a solemn, reflective manner as Passion Sunday remembering the Passion of Jesus Christ his betrayal and crucifixion.
The entire week celebrates the final days of Jesus’ life and then culminates in the greatest festival of the Christian year, Easter, the feast of Jesus’ resurrection.

Maundy Thursday is celebrated on Thursday of Holy Week. Maundy literally means commandment. This worship service is devoted to remembering and reenacting the Last Supper. Jesus commanded his disciples to love one another and so we too are asked to think about how we might love one another in the way Jesus loves all.  We conclude this worship service w/the Stripping of the Altar and the Veiling of the Cross in black.  This is done to remind us that Jesus’ journey to the cross was painful and filled with emptiness and despair.

Good Friday is a time to solemnly recall Jesus’ humiliation and violent death. The Passion Narrative telling this story is read from one the Gospels and a candle is extinguished after one of seven readings. This is also called Tennebrae. Finally the Christ candle is blown out and the Bible slammed to signify the death and loss of Jesus.

Holy Saturday completes the Triduum, the three worship services that prepare the faithful for Easter. Traditionally there is a long vigil and at the end a celebration around midnight with people being baptized and joining the church. The majority of United Methodist congregations share in worship on Maundy Thursday and/or Good Friday.

Here are some thoughts on why some members of our congregation feel compelled to attend the Holy Week Services:

“Tradition.  I have attended in my childhood and have continued to do so.  I want and need to experience the whole entire story.  When I attend the Holy Week Services I better understand the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

“I am compelled to attend because the basis for my faith lies in the fact that Jesus went to the cross, ‘rejected and alone’ (to quote a familiar song) after spending his adult life ministering to people at all levels of society.  He never denied his relationship with God even if that meant suffering in his life. This time of year more than Christmas helps me to grow as a Christian especially in how I relate to others as I remember the sacrifices Jesus made throughout his life to reach humanity.”

“…I want to experience the whole story.  Jesus didn’t just get born and die.  There is so much to digest about His life, what He wanted us to know and become.  To focus on Christmas and Easter—the ‘happy’ days is like licking the icing off the cake…not savoring the whole delicious deep chocolate experience.  The roller coaster ride of Palm Sunday to Maundy Thursday to Good Friday to Easter is an incredible journey.  For me, I cannot grasp and fully appreciate Easter without going through the joys, suffering and uncertainties that lead up to the Resurrection.  And I need to renew that journey every year.”

“I have learned to appreciate the final days of Christ.  The dramatic change from having palms laid down as He arrives to being placed up on the Cross.  It is truly an emotional journey.  The joy and glory of Easter is so much more meaningful now that I have started to attend the services of Holy Week.”

We hope and pray that everyone who attends these worship services has a deep spiritual experience. The songs we sing and the anthems we hear from the Choir, the liturgical movement we see as the dancers move tell the story of Jesus’ last days and death in such a way that our hearts are filled with ‘joy, suffering and uncertainty.’  These emotions open up our complete being to really embrace the joy of Easter on the Sunday that follows.

I like the metaphors shared above.  We need the whole story.  Imagine reading a book and then skipping three or four of the last chapters and just reading the ending.

I think we all want to know how we get to the ending that often is, especially in Jesus’ story ,a beginning to something amazing and life- transforming. Licking off the icing on the cake and not eating the delicious chocolate beneath—what a wonderful image. 

We truly miss something rich and wonderful when we don’t participate in these worship services.

Another reason I am so passionate about our participation in the Holy Week Worship Services is because I believe it is a way for all of us to honor and hold sacred our relationship and walk with Jesus Christ.

I do hope this information has helped to explain why these services are so critical to a joyous and glorious Easter celebration.  I am also hoping that these words are so compelling that we will have standing room only on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Here is the Schedule:

April  13th at 7:30 pm
Maundy Thursday
Celebration of the Last Supper, Jesus’ betrayal and time in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Special Music and Liturgical Dance

April 14th at 7:30 pm
Good Friday
A time to remember Jesus’ walk to the cross, his suffering and death.
Special Music by the Guitar Ensemble and the Chancel Choir

Blessings on the Lenten journey to Easter,
Pastor Paula