A Word from the Worship Team: Palm/Passion Sunday

I will never forget my first Palm Sunday celebration at Grace, stepping into the church with the procession, hearing the triumphant "All Glory, Laud, and Honor," and looking down to see my three-year-old raise her palm fiercely into the air, with a look of great seriousness on her face.   In a way she couldn't possibly have understood at the time, she-like everyone else in the procession- was taking a stand.   There were two processions entering Jerusalem that day-one for Pilate, and one for Jesus. When we hold up our palms and sing "Hosanna!" we choose to stand in the procession honoring Jesus, the humble Jewish peasant who was, at the same time, the Heavenly King.

Traditionally, the Sunday before Easter has also served another important role: Passion Sunday, the beginning of Passiontide.   Christian worship services on this day have included a reading of Christ's Passion-his betrayal, suffering, and death. The story is often presented in a dramatic way, with different people reading different parts.

How can both of these stories-the palms and the Passion-be told effectively in a single Sunday morning worship service? Should they be?   This was the focus of our last Worship Team meeting. For the last few years, Grace Church's liturgy on the Sunday before Easter has focused on the celebration and triumph of Palm Sunday, saving the Passion story to be told in detail in the three solemn Triduum services-Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter.   But some parishioners have commented that they missed hearing the Passion story on the Sunday before Easter. Paying attention to those comments, doing research on the history and traditions of Palm/Passion Sunday, and based on conversations with other churches and liturgists, Shawn suggested that the Worship Team take up the issue for study, discussion, and assistance in planning Palm Sunday at Grace.

The Last Week, by John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg, which recounts the story of Jesus' last week as told in the Gospel of Mark and explains the historical and cultural context in which those events occurred.   We had a rich discussion of that reading, focusing on the implications of the two processions into Jerusalem. We also talked about what it means to "process" in a liturgical sense-in comparison to other kinds of gatherings, like military parades and protest marches.

Then we turned our focus to liturgical history.   Shawn walked us through how the Church has celebrated these events over history, including in the Episcopal prayer books of 1928 and 1979.   The liturgy of the palms-and even the hymn "All Glory, Laud, and Honor"-date back many centuries.   So does the reading of the Passion as an introduction to Holy Week.   During some periods of time, Passion Sunday and Palm Sunday have been observed together, while in other periods they were observed in consecutive weeks.

We also talked about the liturgy from the perspective of the people experiencing it.   What is the experience like for those who will also be participating in the detailed telling of the Passion story in the Triduum services? What is it like for those who will go directly from this service to Easter? What is the mood of the day? Celebratory and joyful? Or solemn and sad?   Or all of these? As one committee member observed, Jesus' followers must have been overwhelmed by the emotional rollercoaster of that week. In a way, including both the palm procession and the Passion in the same service gives us a glimpse of that same conflict.

Our discussion led the committee to recommend re-introducing the Passion story into the liturgy for the Sunday before Easter-though in a different way than we've done it in the past. We reviewed services from St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle and from St. Paul and the Redeemer in Hyde Park and decided to use their model as ours (modified to reflect Grace's own style and ideas). The service this year will begin with the Liturgy of the Palms and the procession, beginning outdoors, in front of the church (weather permitting).   Joining Christians across the ages and around the world, we will sing "All Glory, Laud, and Honor" and raise our palms joyfully in the air. We will read the story of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem as the Gospel for the day, and the triumphant mood will carry us through our celebration of the Eucharist. Then, after the prayer following communion and a hymn, we will enter the "Passiontide" and hear the story of Christ's suffering and death, read in parts. We will end the service in contemplation, with the choir singing Allegri's beautiful and meditative "Miserere mei, Deus" (circa 1630) as the postlude.   The people may stay for the whole piece or leave quietly as they wish.

We hope this order of service will be a rich, effective, and meaningful beginning to Holy Week for everyone. We look forward to seeing you at the service and hearing about how it prepared you for Holy Week and Easter.

-Linda Coberly

The Worship Team:

Jon Baumgarten

Charlie Carpenter

Grace Coberly

Linda Coberly, Vice Chair

Stan Kaderbek

Barbara Larsen

Karen Mensch

Linda Ivey Miller

Natalie Ratz

Joe & Jack Ratz

Audrey Riley

Shawn Schreiner, Chair

Nadia Stefko

Walter Thorne

Charles Wells, Vice-Chair

Get more information, and purchase tickets ($20 in advance; $25 at the door) at this link.

Hello everyone! Don't forget about our wonderful reception following the Great Vigil of Easter on Saturday, March 30.  

We are always in need of finger foods. This could be anything from tea sandwiches to cheese and crackers. Also, we need volunteers to help in the kitchen. If you could give us a small amount of your time, either before or after the service for set-up and/or clean-up, it would be very much appreciated.  

Questions? Contact Carole Barber, 708-386-1055; Laura Day 708-453-7162; or Jane Shirley, 773-378-0674.

If you would like to donate toward Easter Flowers, in memory or thanksgiving, you may do so securely online by clicking the button below:

Or, click here for a form to submit with your donation.

All forms must be received by Sunday, March 24, 2013, for acknowledgment to appear in the Easter bulletins. Thank you!

For the last several years the Feinstein Foundation has been offering a proportional matching grant to food pantries around the country. Both money and items donated are counted and each pantry receives a grant in proportion to the amount they have collected. As Federal funding drops, while the economy stays stressful, the needs at the Oak Park Food Pantry have greatly increased.  

If you would like to donate to the Oak Park River Forest Food pantry through Grace Church, please bring non-perishable food items to Grace Church, and we will get them to the pantry.  The Feinstein Challenge runs until the end of April. Thanks so much.