Idea Swap: Holy Week and Easter Online
A Zoom Meet-up for Spiritual Leaders During COVID-19
Christian congregations about about to enter the most sacred week of the year, remembering Jesus’ final days, his journey to the cross, his death, and his resurrection. But this year, as we observe public health guidelines, congregations will be utilizing technology to observe Holy Week and celebrate Easter in digitally-connected spaces.
Maybe you’re asking:
- How might we curate meaningful Holy Thursday gatherings when we aren’t physically present in our familiar sanctuaries to celebrate Communion together?
- How might we adapt our churches’ Good Friday traditions for congregations connected by Zoom or Facebook Live, or even create Good Friday at-home worship guides that members of our congregations can follow at their own pace?
- How might we convey the hope and joy of Easter Sunday in an anxious and disorienting time? What’s the connection to be made between empty churches and the empty tomb? When COVID-19 concerns prevent us from gathering in sanctuaries filled with the colors and smells of Easter flowers, how shall we lead our congregations in praising the God who is greater than all our symbols?
Let’s swap ideas! Watch the below Zoom meet up with other leaders who are asking these questions and planning for meaningful Holy Week and Easter online worship gatherings. This video was recorded on April 2, 2020.
Our guests included:
- Rev. Dr. Cynthia Good, pastor of Calvary Church in Arlington, MA
- Rev. Peter Ilgenfritz, interim pastor of Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor, ME
- Rev. Maria Anderson-Lippert, associate pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church, Bloomington, MN
- along with Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill of The BTS Center and Ben Yosua-Davis of Reports From the Spiritual Frontier.
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Rev. Dr. Cynthia Good
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Rev. Peter Ilgenfritz
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Rev. Maria Anderson-Lippert
Holy Week and Easter Resources
General Holy Week resources
- Triduum Under Quarantine — a set of Google Drive folders with a wealth of resources compiled by Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary
- Online Services for Holy Week and Easter 2020 — Ideas from the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship
- Marcia McFee’s Worship Design Studio webinar (youtube recording, 1:36 in length)
- “Singing Through the Wilderness” — Holy Week worship resources by Slats Toole, A Sanctified Art LLC
- “Holy Week at Home: Creative Ways to Worship,” by Anna Strickland, A Sanctified Art
- “Singing Together, But Apart: Congregational Song for Online Worship,” by Slats Toole, A Sanctified Art LLC
- “Remembering Holy Week, Celebrating Easter at Home,” from The United Methodist Church
Palm Sunday
- Palm fronds to download and color
- Make your own palm branches
- An idea for Palm Sunday
- “Wave the Palms!” Palm Sunday parade — Facebook event and hashtag #paradeofpalms
Holy Thursday and Good Friday
- An At-Home Liturgy for Maundy Thursday, by Sarah Are, A Sanctified Art LLC
- Christ is Really Present Virtually: A Proposal for Virtual Communion, from the Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community, written by Director Deanna A. Thompson
- Holy Week Tenebrae: A Home-Based Devotional, a downloadable (by purchase, with a sliding price scale) resource from SALT Project
Easter
- An At-Home Easter Sunrise Liturgy, by Sarah Are, A Sanctified Art LLC
- “This Easter Celebration” — a new hymn by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette written to honor the particular realties of Easter 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Quarantined Easter Celebration Facebook page — contains lots of ideas, including directions for shared Easter observances and hashtags to use when posting to social media