Services for Holy Week
We will celebrate the sacrament of communion virtually this evening for Maundy Thursday, when Jesus sat at table with his friends. Following the recent guidelines of our denomination, communion may be celebrated virtually with guidance for members to gather their own elements. Our session agreed that this sacrament of nurture was appropriate and needed at this time. The service is part of the recorded link above. Gather your bread and wine or juice or water and partake at the point in the service as Pastor Kathryn celebrates and invites us to communion. If we all begin the service at 6:30, we will be sharing communion at the same time. Our service prepares us with reading from scripture and verses from the hymn: Were You There. This hymn comes to us from our African American siblings who crafted the words and tune for this spiritual, first published in a hymn book in 1899 and now part of the public domain. The words encourage us to place ourselves among the witnesses to Jesus trail, death and burial. Then with one verse often sung on Easter, we witness God's raising Christ from the tomb. We will wait to sing that final verse. For tonight's service we sing newly crafted verses to go along with the readings from Matthew's Gospel:
Listen to
Matthew 26:17-25 – The Passover with His Disciples
Sing:
Were you there when he gathered with his friends? (x2)
O, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when he gathered with his friends?
(
a brief silence)
Listen to
Matthew 26:26-30 – The Lord’s Supper
Sing:
Were you there when he gave them bread and wine? (x2)
O, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when he gave them bread and wine?
(a brief silence)
SERVICE OF COMMUNION
Listen to
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
–
Jesus Washes the Feet of His Disciples
Sing:
Were you there when he knelt and washed their feet? (x2)
O, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when he knelt and washed their feet?
(a brief silence followed by Pastor Kathryn's brief reflection)
Listen to
Matthew 26:36-45 – In Gethsemane
Sing:
Were you there when he knelt and prayed to God? (x2)
O, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when he knelt and prayed to God?
(a brief silence)
Listen to
Matthew 26:47-56 – The Betrayal and Arrest
Sing:
Were you there when his friends betrayed and ran? (x2)
O, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when his friends betrayed and ran?
(a brief silence)
At the conclusion of the service, we invite you to wash your hands as an act of service that we are observing around the world this Maundy Thursday.
J
oin us Sunday morning as we gather virtually with Mary Magdalene, Peter and the Beloved Disciple at the tomb. We return to John's Gospel the first two weeks of Easter. Plan to touch Jesus' wounds with Thomas and gather behind closed doors with other disciples.
