Organizing Holy Week 2025

Holy Week – the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is at the center of the Christian year. Church communities re-enter the story of the life, teaching, betrayal, arrest, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus through various services, public actions, liturgical encounters and the sharing of meals. You can help us plan and organize our celebrations at CAPC Oakland for 2025 by joining us for a planning meeting on Sunday, March 23rd after our morning gathering. You can prepare by taking a look at what we’ve done in the past to reflect on how we might celebrate and embody the story today.

Palm Sunday:

For the past several years we’ve done a service around a concrete social action. It’s been our way to enter the story of Jesus prophetically entering the capital city of Jerusalem on a donkey and with the waving of palm branches. We don’t know how big the crowd was, but we do know that Jesus did it for a reason to proclaim God’s presence in the world and invite everyone to think differently about the injustice that they suffered at the hands of the Romans. In the past years our Palm Sunday service has included the reading of this prophetic story followed by actions such as 1) writing letters to elected officials to demand better conditions for those who are incarcerated, thinking in particular of a church member who is incarcerated; and 2) engaging with first hand encounters of the injustice being done by settlers to native Palestinians in the West Bank. How might we wrestle with the prophetic call of Jesus in the entry into Jerusalem to proclaim, embody and bring about the justice-righteousness of God in our world? It might be collecting donations for a local group, writing letters of advocacy, or testimony-giving, or ….who knows? [past example]

Maundy Thursday:

This is the day in which we retell the story of the Last Supper, when Jesus teaches that to love is to serve to give your life for others. He does this in sharing the first communion meal with his friends and in washing their feet. In the past we’ve done a dinner service at which we’ve shared dinner together using a liturgy that enables us to tell and discuss the story as we share a meal together. (Here’s a past liturgy menu). Should we do this again, or maybe do smaller meals in different homes?

Good Friday:

This is the day of the death of Jesus on the cross. We read the story of his trial, suffering and crucifixion as we reflect upon the mystery that we most know the love and power of God in the horror of the crucifixion. We end our service by planting a large wooden cross in our garden and praying for our world outside in the public square. [Here’s a past liturgy example.]

Easter Sunday:

We celebrate by bringing the cross from the garden back inside the sanctuary, praying for those who have wrestled personally with the death of loved ones this past year. We also always do an egg hunt for children after the service. [past examples] What might we do to embody the radical hope of resurrection in our city and nation in 2025?

The Sunday after Easter:

Most churches see a huge drop off in attendance after a huge crowd on Easter. We tend to approach it differently, saying what might we do to get people to come back this Sunday after Easter because it’s just too good and unique to miss?