Why do we worship so many times during Holy Week? What is the difference between all the services? Do I have to go to all of them? How is Holy Week different here than at my old church? If you’re new to all of these observances, or if you’ve experienced them differently in other denominations, you might have some of these questions or others as we head into the final three days before Easter.
I grew up Roman Catholic, served an Episcopal congregation for many years, and now consider myself a Lutheran, so I hope I can share a perspective of someone who has asked, researched, and had many questions answered about the way worship and theology differ among our various traditions.
Our Holy Week observes many of the same holy days that are observed in other Christian denominations - Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Lutherans all mark these days on their calendars, whether their individual congregations choose to worship on these days or not.
On Maundy Thursday, we reenact the last supper - which we do every Sunday morning during the Eucharist - along with other final moments in Jesus’ ministry. He called us to one another, so like Jesus, we renew our baptismal vows, we receive and forgive each others’ sins, we give thanks and remembrance for our joys and our griefs, and we wash each others’ feet. We celebrate Maundy Thursday in a relatively quiet and reflective way, but it is a call to action. We are tasked, just like the disciples, to fulfill Jesus’ ministry after he leaves the world.
In the Roman Catholic church, where crucifixes (crosses with Jesus dead or dying on them) are prominent in every worship space, the whole church year seems to lead up to and serve as a reminder of Good Friday, when Jesus died. Our post-reformation theology teaches us that Jesus died to free us of our sin. Rather than believe that we are still sinners - that we are weighed down by our “original sin” and need to constantly repent for it - we believe that Jesus’ death saved us by grace and that by having faith in Jesus, we are free from sin. If you think of it this way, Good Friday, for protestant believers, is a celebration of Jesus’ life. We are grateful that he came into the world for us and died to release us from our guilt and shame, and while we mourn him, as we would at any funeral, we are also commemorating our privilege to live our lives without fear of damnation.
You don’t have to come to worship on these extra markers of the church calendar year. But like so many worship moments throughout the year, Sunday and otherwise, the extra words of encouragement and reminders of our faith that we receive on these holy days each year can be a benefit in our lives.
I hope to see you soon,
John Johns, Music Director