For Holy Week

This week is known throughout Christianity as Holy Week. Beginning with Palm or Passion Sunday and Christ’s kingly procession into Jerusalem, the week culminates in the Triduum or the Three Days of Easter: Maundy Thursday when we celebrate the Eucharist on the Passover evening on which Christ was betrayed, Good Friday when we observe his suffering and death on the cross for our sins and the glorious, triumphant celebration of Easter Sunday, the day Christ defeated death by his resurrection.

There is an abundance of ideas and sites to visit for worship ideas, prayers, and devotions for this high season in the Christian calendar. Visit here, here , here and here for Lutheran Church of Australia resources.

Some ideas for Holy Week.
•    Strip the altar bare as part of the close of the service on Maundy Thursday in readiness for worship on Good Friday, shroud the crucifix with a black cloth.
•    On Good Friday all adornment is absent. No flowers are needed but a simple crown of thorns, or large nails or a spear could be used in a visual presentation in the narthex. The traditional colour is black for Good Friday.
•    Make or buy hot cross buns for serving during the weekend. Don’t forget to explain the reason for the cross when serving.
•    If the adoration of the cross has been part of the service on Good Friday and a cross placed in the sanctuary, it could remain and be adorned with flowers and butterflies to signify Christ’s resurrection, and could be lit with a spotlight, especially at the dawn service. A paschal candle may also be lit.
•    Take advantage of the colours of white and gold, the colours of Easter when decorating the church for Easter. Flowers and butterflies can be used. Special banners (such as an ‘Alleluia’ banner) could be hung or used in a special Easter Day procession at the beginning of worship.
•    A depiction of an Easter garden with an empty tomb could be a good visual aid in the narthex.
•    Have a celebratory Easter breakfast after a dawn service.

May the God of peace, who raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, provide us with every good thing we need in order to do his will.