With Easter approaching, local churches are planning Holy Week services, all while reflecting on what these traditions mean to their congregations.
For Refuge Christian Church, this year’s plans are fairly simple, with it only offering a Sunday service, due primarily to it being the Rev. Ryon Sander’s first Easter with the congregation.
“We’re just doing a 10 a.m. service and keeping it real basic this year,” Sander said.
When asked what significance this service holds, Sander explained the importance that Resurrection Sunday holds to all Christians.
“Resurrection Sunday not only means our Savior was risen, but it also means that we found salvation in Christ to the death, burial and resurrection of his body,” he said.
At Holy Family Catholic Church, festivities will occur all throughout Holy Week. Following the Palm Sunday service, the church will have services on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Additionally, an Easter vigil will be Saturday evening at nightfall.
“The Easter vigil is the biggest liturgical celebration of the year,” Bill Graveman said. “We begin with a dark church. Candles are used to light the church and everybody that comes holds a candle and it is symbolic of Christ rising from the dead on Easter Sunday morning.”
Graveman said the services are all significant to the congregation, as each recognizes Christ’s role in human salvation.
“They’re important because they remind us of the life that we have in Christ,” he said. “It’s our ability to get to heaven by Jesus paying the price for the sinful nature of human beings.”
Janet Campbell, a long-time parishioner of Holy Family Catholic Church, said Easter is the holiest day of the year for the Catholic Church, and explained its significance to her.
“You walk in and there’s Easter lilies all over and it looks beautiful and we’re saying hallelujah again,” she said. “The bells are ringing, the music is upbeat.”
Just down the street, St. Paul Church of Christ had a Palm Sunday service and will host Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday services. The Thursday service will be in the evening, while Sunday’s sunrise service will be at Debbie Carden’s farm.
When speaking on Palm Sunday, Carden told fellow parishioners that they would be welcomed to a quick service in front of a bonfire, with horses and donkeys nearby for the children to pet.
The Rev. Mauri Peaco said the Thursday service is special due to the message it sends.
“It is the commemoration of Jesus giving the new commandment that we love each other,” she said. “It’s kind of a love service, in a sense, reminding us that we are to love each other as Jesus loved us.”
Eudora United Methodist Church plans to livestream a Maundy Thursday service, and host Good Friday and Easter Sunday services.
Thursday’s service will be centered around Jesus’ Last Supper and will be co-led by the Rev. Ross Baker and his wife from their home in Baldwin City. Friday’s service will be a joint evening service led by Baker for both Eudora and Edgerton residents.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s service will be a sunrise service on the church’s lawn.
Baker said Holy Week is a time the church often sees the return of congregants who have been unable to attend other services, as well as the return of college-aged members and extended family.
“It’s always a celebration where a lot of people come back home to be a part of the Easter worship celebrations,” he said. “That, I think, is really special to the congregation and is very meaningful.”
Baker said the ability to congregate outside is also significant.
“Any time we can worship out in God’s creation is a special moment,” he said.
Eudora Baptist Church opted to host two morning Easter Sunday services with a breakfast in between.
These plans differ slightly from years past. Family life pastor Ty Burgoon said the church’s plans typically shift from year-to-year, with the Easter Sunday service remaining the only staple.
For members of this congregation, the gathering aspect is also a strong sticking point, alongside the meaning of Easter Sunday itself, Burgoon said.
“I would think that it’s the most meaningful service of the year, you know, because that is the focal point, is that we celebrate Christ’s resurrection,” he said. “Everything that Jesus claimed and said was validated on that first Easter morning.”
If any other churches have Holy Week plans that they want included in this story, email us at [email protected].
Parishioners wave their palm leaves during the Palm procession on Palm Sunday. “The last couple of years, I've done a movement from the scriptures focused around Jesus's triumphal entry with the palm, waving them into palm branches and then moving into some of the scriptural story that is often referred to as the Passion narrative,” said the Rev. Ross Baker of Eudora United Methodist Church.
