Holy Week

I'm preparing today for our Good Friday service of shadows. For me, it is the most moving service of the year - no other comes close. Reading the prophecies and passages wherein Messiah was brutalized for our sins just gets to me every time I read them - even in preparation.

The service we do is an adaptation of a centuries old service called Tenebrae. We begin with communion, to establish ourselves in community. The lights are on, though reduced, the candles are lit along the sides of the sanctuary. Then once communion is over, we extinguish the lights and the rest of the worship is with the candles only.

As the passages of prediction are read, one by one the candles are extinguished, until only one remains - the Christ candle. With the reading of Psalm 22, that one too is snuffed out, and the service abruptly closes and people depart in darkness.

The music, on the years when we use it, is mournful, or expressive of His sacrifice in our stead. Some years we don't use any. Last year, we used a video of "The Last Painting", where an artist paints a picture of Jesus on the cross, but because you only see parts of it during the playing of the video, you don't realize what it is until the end. Set to music from the Passion of the Christ, it is a violent shock to the senses as the artist paints with only his hands.

I have some other video I can use, and am still working on which ones. I'm also thinking about shaking things up by having the readers within the congregation, equipped with small flashlights to be able to see to read - and maybe have the singers sing from the lobby instead of the front.

We want this to be emotional.
We want to help people feel the sheer weight of their sins.
We want them to realize the full price that was paid for those sins.

So that when Sunday comes, they understand.

Grace!

David