Thorns take the shape of a crown.
Popular acclaim turns to public execution.
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Life ends and begins.
Holy Week tells a story like no other, a powerful story of change—a story that continues to change the world, and to change people’s lives.
It’s possible to fast-forward to the great celebration of Easter and hear only the story of joy that came on that resurrection morning. But the impact, indeed the change, is deeper and more powerful when we walk through these holy days together.
- We begin with the power of the triumphal entry with the Liturgy of Palms on Palm Sunday.
- We join the disciples gathered for the last supper on Maundy Thursday and discover something about what it means to serve.
- Come and see for yourself what’s ‘good’ about Good Friday.
- Catch the first rays of hope on Easter Day.
Holy Week celebrations are marked with honesty. The measured pace of the week helps us to absorb the intense meaning of the events being celebrated. Life, of course, cannot be put on hold—but this week, above all others, is an invitation to pause and reflect on the gifts of faith and community.
You can simply attend Palm Sunday and Easter, but you are deeply encouraged to make time to enter deeply into the entirety of the liturgy of Holy Week as described below.
This guide to Holy Week is offered as a way to encourage you to find your own path through these important days.
You may find more than you can ask for or imagine.
Palm Sunday, April 13th
9:30am Holy Trinity
11am All Saints
Liturgy of the Palms and the Passion
Join us in the celebration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as we process around the church with palms and sing “Hosanna!” Begin the drama of Holy Week as we recount the story of the crowds who welcomed Jesus, only to turn on him a few days later.
Monday of Holy Week, April 14th
10am-4pm – All Saints, Hands-on Holy Week
6pm – All Saints, Eucharist and reflection
Tuesday of Holy Week, April 15th
6pm – All Saints, Eucharist and reflection
Wednesday of Holy Week, April 16th
6pm – All Saints, Eucharist and reflection
Maundy Thursday, April 17th
7pm All Saints
Washing of Feet, Celebration of Eucharist, the Watch
We gather to hear the story of the Last Supper and the giving of the New Commandment to love and serve one another. Anyone who wishes is invited to come forward to have their feet washed as a sign of service. The Holy Eucharist—our weekly memorial of the Last Supper—is celebrated, and then the altars are stripped of their linens and the ornaments of the church are removed, leaving a stark and bare worship space. We are then invited to keep watch:
“Could you not stay awake with me for one hour?”
Maundy Thursday night we remember Christ’s agony as he was betrayed in the garden of Gethsemane. We will keep a watch from 8:30pm until midnight, finishing with compline at 11:45pm. It is common for people to watch for a short time, or to go and come back, some might stay for the whole time. Join us in this longstanding tradition of keeping watch with Christ.
Jesus said to them,
“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow…stay here and keep watch with me.
Good Friday, April 18th
12 Noon – 3pm – Holy Trinity, the three hours
Good Friday is the day we commemorate the death of Jesus. We remember his brutal death on the cross, the humiliating punishment favoured by the Romans for seditious and unsavoury criminals. This liturgy is solemn and penitential, but it is still a celebration because we know that through the cross of Jesus our sins are washed away and we are freed from our guilt. Through the outpouring of the love of Jesus on the cross, we claim our inheritance as children of God. The three hours devotion is broken up into three parts. You are welcome to join at any point.
12pm – Stations of the cross
1pm – Reflections
2pm Liturgy of the Passion of our Lord
Walk with Jesus to the cross using the tradition of the Stations of the Cross, with readings, reflections, and quiet hymns. Spend some time in personal quiet reflection. Join with the liturgy of the day, when we hear again the Passion, Jesus’ suffering and death and give thanks for his love and sacrifice. We leave in silence, broken-hearted because he died for us, but, our broken heats are still full of hope because He Lives.
Holy Saturday, April 19th
The Church waits in silence as Jesus lies in the grave.
Mission Area Easter Vigil, Holy Trinity, 8pm
We join with the Mission Area to celebrate the Ressurection. Beginning with the kindling of the New Fire, from which is lit the Paschal Candle – the sign of the risen Christ. The candle is processed into the church and the ancient Easter proclamation “Exsultet” is chanted. We then recount the story of salvation, remembering how God is at work in human history. The Gospel of the Resurrection is proclaimed and we celebrate Eucharist together, sharing in the new life of the risen Lord.
Easter Sunday, April 20th
9:30am Holy Trinity
11am – All Saints
Easter Sunday – Eucharist of the Resurrection
Easter Day is the greatest celebration in the entire year of the Church: the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and, through God’s raising up of Jesus, the promise of new life for the Creation. In God all things are made new, and we celebrate this with great joy and happiness on the day of Resurrection. After a long season of Lent with no flowers or alleluias, the church is decorated with bright flowers—a sign of the Resurrection—and “Alleluia!” rings out in joyful praise of our God who raised Jesus from the dead.
