Maundy Thursday has always been one of my favorite services: the celebration of community and love and eating together; Jesus’ command to love one another and to remember him and this love in the Eucharist; the strange and silly and sacred practice of washing each other’s feet; the transition into the sadness and disorientation of the garden and the crucifixion. It’s all there: love and betrayal, joy and sorrow, servanthood and scattering.
This year we’re going to try (another) new way of bringing together the experience of eating a meal together with the liturgy: we’re going to have it all in the same room! A simple supper in the sanctuary will begin at 6:00pm, followed by the liturgy around 6:35 or 6:40. We’ll have a retelling of the story of the last supper, plenty of music, foot washing, and communion, shared at your supper tables. It will be done by 7:30 pm.
Kids are extremely welcome at this service (it’s one of our most experiential and sensory! and messy! services, plus now it has food!). For those of you who would prefer to attend online, I encourage you to show up on screen with your own supper at 6:00 and have time of fellowship with other folks attending online.
If this service reminds you of painful experiences from past communities, that’s okay. If you’re ready to try again, that’s part of why we’re making it new, so that we can build something that fits us all together, right now.
If you’re new and this service feels intimidating, that’s okay. It’s going to be new for all of us! Washing feet and eating in the sanctuary is pretty much a little bit weird for everyone. If you’re up for it, give it a try; it will probably also be meaningful and good.
The rest of our Holy Week services will be similar in format to those of past years. I’ve always found a beauty in the balance of familiarity and newness that shows up in these liturgies year after year. We are each different than we were last year. Living these stories together brings us all more deeply into God’s love, and God’s story that unites us, each year in a new way.
With love,
Anne
PS: You can sign up here to bring something to the meal (or sign up in person on Sunday)!
PPS: We need volunteers to serve at all of our Holy Week services: vergers, ushers, acolytes, LEMs! Sign up at www.saintclareschurch.org/scheduling.
