HOLY WEEK can sit strangely within the church yr. It is probably the most solemn and significant of times within the church calendar, and yet, to all intents and purposes, strange life carries on undisturbed by it. Unlike Christmas, which bursts upon the scene in a riot of tinsel and fairy lights, demanding attention and pulling people in from the streets to enjoy carolling and mince pies, for many of the population, Holy Week passes unnoticed. Only the promise of hot cross buns and free childcare when schools are closed or just a few eccentrics walking mournfully around the community on Good Friday could have any impact in any respect.
How, then, to interact with the non-churchgoing public? How to share the message of sacrificial love — an unpopular theme in today’s “Because I’m price it”, “Go on, treat yourself” society? Perhaps through the use of the week to experiment and challenge, to supply services and events which can be different from the norm, and to consider carefully about all sectors of the community and explore ways during which they could develop into engaged, even briefly, with the drama of Holy Week and the life-changing effect of its events.
Thinking outside the box
YOUR community might well be happily settled into an everyday rhythm of services. It is to be hoped that the schedule is one that every one can manage — ministry team, musicians, volunteers working inside their capability and capability, able to keep up the extent of effort and energy required without collapsing with burnout. Nevertheless, everyone knows the hazards of complacency, of falling right into a routine that becomes almost mindless in its familiarity. Holy Week offers a possibility to check out recent things in a way that’s manageable (since it is barely one week), comprehensible (it’s a special week), and unrepeatable, if needed. If something completely recent is just too difficult or demanding, attempt to ring the changes with the established patterns, enabling your community to look with fresh eyes on familiar events.
Take it outside
THE traditional Good Friday Walk of Witness has at all times appeared to me a mixed blessing. It can act as a useful reminder to the secular world that the Church exists. It may give a possibility to hope in and for streets and areas which can be normally ignored. But it could also appear to be an act of ecclesiastical imperialism, as we impose our faith rituals on others, disturbing their normal activities. In one parish, this disturbance was greeted with annoyance, egg-throwing, and even hosepipes, which might be where I get my reluctance to participate.
If you might be determined, nevertheless, be certain you’ve gotten straight your reasons for the event. Is it a prayer walk — during which case, are the prayers relevant? Do you pray in your surroundings, or are they a response to a story that only those that have the service sheets can actually hear? Do you offer invitations to services, explanations of the activity itself?
Does your walk look engaging and interesting — something that individuals might actually want to affix? Could it’s offered as a pilgrimage as an alternative — a word that’s more easily understood and has secular connections, asking less of participants than wholehearted belief? If you give out hot cross buns as you go, do you make it clear why you might be doing so? Are the new cross buns as fresh as they will be (this is absolutely necessary)? Instead of walking, which poses challenges for individuals with mobility issues, consider holding one other outdoor church event.
Using your constructing
A SERVICE to recollect and reflect on the last days and hours of the lifetime of Jesus can range from simply walking the Stations of the Cross, with readings and prayers, to an elaborate event around your entire church constructing involving drama, art, music, and congregational interaction. Rather than confine yourselves to the written and spoken word, experiment with other ways of engaging with each event of the journey. Read one in all Malcolm Guite’s sonnets, or Stephen Cottrell’s prayers and reflections. Bluetooth speakers and mobile phones mean that music is now transportable. Apps similar to Spotify offer a whole lot of pieces of music, whatever your taste.
Use different images and discuss individual reactions to each. Encourage the congregation to attract, paint, sculpt, or write. Instead of a hard and fast time, arrange installations where people can reflect and pray at their leisure. The installations don’t need to be many in number; the aim will not be to exhaust your praying visitor, but to involve them within the journey. If you include ways during which you’ll be able to gauge how many individuals engaged with the installation — stickers on hearts, letters on boards, stones in bowls — that will be helpful when evaluating the event.
Experiment
INSTEAD of a three-hour vigil, how a couple of “Come and Sing” event? Instead of compline, why not a Taizé meditation, or a discussion group on depictions of the crucifixion? A candlelit Tenebrae service, an agape meal, all offer opportunities for reflection in a way that may differ out of your usual offerings. The Methodist Church has a beautiful set of seven services based on the Seven Last Words: all that you must do is print and go.
Extend your pool
HOLY WEEK, with its one-off events, offers the chance to involve members of your congregation and community who may not otherwise be a part of the leadership team. The promise of limited commitment and the spark of something recent might enable you to extend the activity and engagement of people who’ve too many other commitments to form a part of the regular team.
Similarly, adventurous outreach activities will be held without too great an investment of time, resources and emotion which could otherwise be too draining. Just be certain you’ve gotten your risk assessments and, above all, safeguarding measures in place when involving recent leaders or supervisors.
Hold the mystery
REMEMBER that nobody really “understands” Holy Week and Easter. Part of our role is to permit those mysterious, dark, and emotional days to be examined, explored, and investigated from every angle. We know that we are going to never have the option to plumb the depths of the meaning of those events; we simply hold them in faith and hope, knowing that we in turn are held by God.
In the words of Jaroslav Pelikan: “If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ will not be risen — nothing else matters.”
The Revd Dr Sally Welch is the Vicar of the Kington Group within the diocese of Hereford.
Resources
Seven Days of services on the Methodist Church Resource Hub
An entire-service outline of a service of Tenebrae is accessible and accessible without subscription on Roots on the Web:
Suggestions for prayer stations on the All Age Worship Resources
