palm / passion sunday

Growing up the Sunday prior to Easter was called "Palm Sunday". The service was a retelling of the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey (or a colt, depending on which version was told). But this changed by the time of my ordination. Then it had been renamed as Palm / Passion Sunday. This has made for a somewhat awkward liturgical dance. It means putting together the celebratory shouts of "Hosanna" alongside the same crowd's chants of "Crucify".

Over the years that I served in ministry at University Hill Congregation we had a custom of beginning the service with a palm processional led by the children. Waving fern fronds (readily available in our environment) the children would lead a line dance through and around the congregation as all sang an African song: "Sanna, Sanna, Sanna". The entry into Jerusalem became our entry into Holy Week. Then the service turned to a retelling of the Passion narrative.

This was the one Sunday in the year when our group known as "The Singers" prepared a Cantata - a musical retelling of Holy Week. This group rarely took centre stage in the congregation. Instead of preparing an anthem for each service, The Singers prepared to assist the congregation in singing the hymns and sung responses of the service. They also offered a brief, beautiful and often haunting introit. It was on Palm/Passion Sunday that The Singers became the proclaimers of the gospel. It meant that instead of preparing a sermon I offered a short commentary that made the transition from the celebration of the palms to the ache of the Passion. The service would conclude with the ending of the Cantata. Then all would follow The Singers as they left the sanctuary in silence and proceeded downstairs where refreshments would await. No applause. No chatter. The hosannas now in the background. The week of suffering out ahead. Looking back I am grateful for this rich congregational tradition that made Palm/Passion Sunday a highlight of our life together. Somehow what had once seemed liturgically awkward came to feel balanced and true and right.

Since I was not called upon to preach on Palm/Passion Sunday, I was invited to take on the role of Worship Elder. This meant writing and leading the prayers. Here are two examples of those prayers: A Palm / Passion Sunday Prayer of Approach & Confession and  A Palm / Passion Sunday Prayer of Intercession.

One of the biblical texts that is included in the lectionary for the Liturgy of the Passion is Philippians 2:5-11. Here is a sermon I preached from this passage when it arose in the lectionary (as Philippians 2:1-13) on another Sunday in the Christian Year: The Church of the Changed Mind.