MAUNDY THURSDAY
A SERVICE OF COMMUNION AND TENEBRAE
April 9, 2020
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRELUDE Oh Sacred Head J. S. Bach
*CALL TO WORSHIP – Jim & Karen DeMay
Leader: In the stillness around us this night, O God, we sense all that is unsettled within
us– the concerns of this day, the irritations, the unfinished business, and deeper,
the fears that wake us at night, the secret shame we carry, the pain with which
we limp, the decisions we must make but cannot see how.
People: Be with us where we struggle. Remain by our side so that we will not face
that alone. Strengthen us by your presence and in your love.
Leader: Grant us courage that we may be with others, even where we can do nothing
but stand and wait, where we cannot understand their pain nor take it away,
Where we would rather flee than feel our helplessness.
People: Be with us that we may be with them, and by our presence, ease their
lonely ache.
Leader: Be with a world that waits for peace, for justice, for the cries of hungry children
to end, for the sharing of food to be more important than profits, for the building
of a future to be more important than the amassing of assets, for what is good for
all, especially the weakest, to be more important than what is wanted by the
powerful.
People: Be with a world that waits for your shalom, your fullness of life. Keep us
hungering and thirsting, and by your presence, waiting, lest we settle for less.
Leader: Open us, O God, to each other’s pain and to the pain of earth itself.
People: Help us not to run nor to turn away, but to be present to each other, that the
bond that is forged when we are together might give us strength and be the
soil in which healing grows.
Leader: In the stillness of this night, we come, O God.
People: Our hearts are heavy within us.
Leader: Remain with us and grant us your peace
People: Amen.
*HYMN Beneath the Cross of Jesus Hastings College Choir
*INVOCATION – Jim & Karen DeMay
Gracious Christ, we betray you, we deny you, we fail to wait with you, and we run away, yet you give yourself for us. Write that wonder deep in our hearts, that we might know the great love with which you hold us and by which you make new our lives. Amen.
THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
Joining our Tables
Holy God, as we gather around our individual tables, help us to feel the heart strings and spirit of life that connects us to one another. Settle our hearts and minds so that even in the midst of stress and fear, we might quiet our souls long enough to be fed by your Spirit. We come to this table seeking your presence. Be with us, Holy One, as we share together this holy meal. We are one bread, one body, one cup of blessing. Though this church community is scattered, we are one in Christ.
In your many kitchens, and living rooms, rest your hands lightly upon these elements which we set aside today to be a sacrament. Let us ask God’s blessing upon them.
Prayer of Consecration:
Almighty God, be with us as we worship today, apart in body but together in Spirit. Consecrate now, by your Holy Spirit, this bread and this cup, now to be shared by these, your people.
Blessing:
Gentle Redeemer, there is no lockdown on your blessing and no quarantine on grace. Send your Spirit of life and love, power and blessing upon every table where your people shelter` in place, that this Bread may be broken and gathered in love and this Cup poured out to give hope to all. Risen Christ, live in us, that we may live in you. Breathe in us, that we may breathe in you.
Breaking the Bread
Here we are at a table. We come hungry for food and drink, for company and conversation, for God’s Spirit of hope. We ask for your comfort and peace for our wilderness journey. Jesus gathered around tables like this one. He gathered with sinners and saints, religious leaders and tax collectors, the proud and arrogant, the self-deprecating and uncertain, the rich and destitute, the healthy and sick, the young and old. We remember the last meal that Jesus shared with his disciples – a meal remembering God’s liberating power. At that meal, Jesus took bread, broke it and shared it with his disciples saying, “Take and eat, this is my body which is broken for you and for all people. Do this in remembrance of me.” Ministering to you in the name and the presence of Christ, I invite you to share this bread. (Everyone is invited to eat their bread).
Sharing the Cup
Like Jesus’ disciples, we have broken bread together. We remember how, after they had eaten, Jesus took the cup. He gave it to the disciples saying: “Drink ye all, of it — this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you and for all people. Do this in remembrance of me.” Ministering to you in the name and the presence of Christ, I invite you to share this cup (Everyone is invited to drink.)
Invitation to Give Thanks
Let us offer our prayer of thanksgiving for this meal of grace, rejoicing that, by the very method of our worship, we have embodied the truth that Christ’s love is not limited by buildings made with human hands, nor contained in human ceremonies, but blows as free as the Spirit in all places.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Spirit of Christ, you have blessed our tables and our lives. May the eating of this Bread give us courage to speak faith and act love, not only in our sanctuary, but in your precious world. May the drinking of this Cup renew our hope even in the midst of pandemic. Wrap your hopeful presence around all whose bodies, spirits and hearts need healing. Help us to offer your compassion to others and to be a refuge amidst the fear and danger in our world. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen
SPECIAL MUSIC What Wondrous Love Is This? St. Olaf choir
CALL OF THE DISCIPLES
*HYMN O Sacred Head, Now Wounded ~ Ao Naga Choir
TENEBRAE SERVICE – THE EXTINGUISHING OF THE LIGHTS
SHADOW OF THE BETRAYAL Matthew 26:20-25 Reader: Erich Rudolph
SHADOW OF THE DESERTION Matthew 26:31-35 Reader: Mickey Ely
ANTHEM Christ is the World’s Light Performed by Edie & Daniel Rice
AGONY OF THE SOUL Luke 22:39-44 Reader: Don Oakleaf
UNSHARED VIGIL Mark 14:32-42 Reader: Don Raw, Jr.
ANTHEM Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley Performed by Edie & Daniel Rice
FATHER, THE HOUR IS COME John 17:1-6 Reader: Jay Garrett-Larsen
THAT THEY MAY BE ONE John 17:15-22 Reader: Kathy Ward
ANTHEM When I Survey The Wondrous Cross Performed by Edie & Daniel Rice
ARREST AT THE GATE John 18:1-5 Reader: Jesse Garrett-Larsen
SHADOW OF THE CROSS Mark 15:16-20 Reader: Debbie Lyon
ANTHEM Were You There? Performed by Edie & Daniel Rice
SHROUDING OF THE CROSS
THE WORD WAS GOD John 1:1-5 Reader: Rev. Dawn Garrett-Larsen
CHRIST CANDLE: THE DARKNESS DID NOT OVER COME IT
LORD’S PRAYER
DEPART IN SILENCE – There will be no benediction, signifying that worship is incomplete until Easter morning.
Tenebrae is the Latin term for Shadows. This is an ancient service of lessons recounting Jesus’ Last Supper, betrayal, arrest, trials and death. Tonight’s readings are accompanied by the gradual extinguishing of lights. Thank you to all our readers this Maundy Thursday.
