Good Friday: Tenebrae and Holy Communion

 Tenebrae, from the Latin word for “shadows,” has been observed in the church of Jesus Christ since the fourth century on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. During the service, different readers will recall the events that led Jesus to the cross, and we will extinguish fourteen candles, one by one, dramatizing the suffering and death of Jesus. The diminishing light symbolizes the fading devotion of the disciples and the sin of the world. At the end of the service the worship center will be dark. During the service, the chimes will toll thirty-three times to signal Jesus’ thirty three years. The Christ candle will then return, symbolizing the hope of his promised resurrection. At the conclusion of the service, please leave silently, contemplating Christ’s crucifixion. Jesus, the Son of God, was dead.

GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE
 
TENNEBRAE AND HOLY COMMUNION
GATHERING IN THE LORD’S NAME
In silence and meditation prepare yourself for worship

Once the candles have been lit, please be respectful of that sign as the beginning of worship by refraining from conversation with those around you so that all may enter into a time of silent preparation for worship.

PRELUDE                                                         Go To Dark Gethsemane
                                 PLEASE STAND
HYMN    Lord Jesus, Think on Me   v.1    
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OPENING PRAYER
 Change is coming, for God’s plans are unfolding. Even in the darkest moments of suffering and pain, God’s purposes can be accomplished.
 Jesus Christ was whipped, ridiculed and crucified for all people.
While completely innocent, Jesus died a grueling death on the cross to show us the way to God’s love and grace.
The greatest hour of defeat, suffering and humiliation was the moment of victory, honor and glory.
Jesus Christ died for you and for me. Let us respond to God’s grace freely, by living lives worthy of this immeasurable gift.
 We will take up our cross and serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
                                    PLEASE BE SEATED

Sacrament of Holy Communion
The service of hand washing

HYMN                                                               Go To Dark Gethsemane
    
We invite all baptized Christians to join us in the Lord’s Supper, no matter what your church affiliation may be
 
  During the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving the following may be said,
            Minister:    The Lord be with you.
          Congregation:  AND ALSO WITH YOU.
          Minister:  Lift up your hearts.
          Congregation:  WE LIFT THEM UP TO THE LORD.
          Minister:  Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
          Congregation:  IT IS RIGHT TO GIVE OUR THANKS AND PRAISE
 
THE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
​THE INSTITUTION OF THE SACRAMENT

SERVICE OF HANDWASHING AND THE SHARING OF THE ELEMENTS
Jesus saw hand washing as an act of devotion symbolizing our need for purity, especially at the time of Passover.  As we pour the water over our wrists and let it run down our hands and fingers and back into the bowl, we can imagine that Jesus was  washing the hands and feet of the disciples. As we ritually wash our own hands, let this be a time of  purification, a time of asking God for forgiveness and cleansing from the sins of the world, and a reminder that we are born to serve, not to be served.

As you approach the front table, there will be an elder holding the bowl and the towels. The elder will pour the water over your hands, and you will wipe your hands with the towels for your use. Please do not dip your hands in the bowl.  Rev. Mason will say,
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_________child of God, you are a servant of the most high God and his Son, Jesus Christ, who cleanses us of our sin in his sacrifice, and forgives us our transgressions. AMEN

​After you have washed your hands, AND  dried them with your own individual towel, please receive the communion cup. Please open the communion you have taken from the elder. Following the sharing of the elements, please return to your seat.

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
  Send forth your Holy Spirit now, we pray, That, as we read the ancient story, we may hear you speak among all the screams and silences of the cross. Keep us all one, even as you prayed we would all be one, and fill us with the strength to abide with you and minister unto you even in the torturous chaos of a crucifying world. 
 
This we ask in Christ, through Christ, with Christ to whom be all honor and glory and dominion now and forevermore. Amen.
                                                              
HYMN         Beneath the Cross of Jesus v.1                                     ​

THE SERVICE OF TENEBRAE

THE PASSION OF OUR LORD
(After each reading, a candle will be extinguished by the reader. This is symbolic that we are preparing for Good Friday, a time of darkness, when the light of the world was temporarily extinguished.)   
                              
                                              PLEASE STAND
HYMN “Where you there when they crucified my Lord?”     
              The cross is draped in black
   It is requested you leave the sanctuary in silence
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*Late arrivals may be seated by the ushers. Thank you!  
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Many thanks to our worship committee, our elder participants, and our Organist, Amy and  liturgists for their participation in this evening’s service. 

     BULLETIN   NOTE
 Tenebrae, from the Latin word for “shadows,” has been observed in the church of Jesus Christ since the fourth century on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. During the service, different readers will recall the events that led Jesus to the cross, and we will extinguish fourteen candles, one by one, dramatizing the suffering and death of Jesus. The diminishing light symbolizes the fading devotion of the disciples and the sin of the world. At the end of the service the worship center will be dark. During the service, the chimes will toll thirty-three times to signal Jesus’ thirty three years. The Christ candle will then return, symbolizing the hope of his promised resurrection. At the conclusion of the service, please leave silently, contemplating Christ’s crucifixion. Jesus, the Son of God, was dead.
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