Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday is
celebrated in remembrance of "The Last
Supper" which is sometimes referred to
as the Passover Meal, said the Rev.
Richard Holmes, pastor of Brundidge
United Methodist Church.

"In years past, and still in some
churches today, the Maundy Thursday
service includes washing of the feet in
much the same way that Jesus washed the
Apostles' feet," Holmes said. "Most
churches today only observe communion
as a remembrance of the way God saved
his people from being slaves to Egypt.

An unblemished lamb was used for the
meal and the blood of the lamb was
smeared on the door frame of the house
so the Angel of Death would "passover."

"Jesus, as the Lamb of God, was the
perfect sacrifice for the sins of the
world," Holmes said. "We take the bread
and wine as the body and blood of the
Lamb. Maundy Thursday is a service of
devotion and remembrance and the
remembrance is a commandment, 'Do this
in remembrance of me. Maundy Thursday
is a special service because we do it
in remembrance of Jesus who came and
died on the cross for the sins of the
world so that we can have life
everlasting."

The Maundy Thursday service will be at
Brundidge United Methodist Church at 6
p.m. tonight.

On Good Friday, First United Methodist
Church of Troy will hold Tenebrae
Service at 7 p.m.

The Rev. John Brannon, pastor, said the
"Service of Darkness" is held on Good
Friday because the crucifixion happened
on Friday.

"At First United Methodist, we combine
the elements of Maundy Thursday, which
is 'The Last Supper,' and the Tenebrae
Service," Brannon said. "The Tenebrae
Service is a very liturgical service.
There is no sermon, only readings of
scripture verses of Isaiah's prophecy
of the 'Suffering Servant' and the last
days of Jesus at Gethsimine and the
crucifixion. The Tenebrae Service is
one of scripture and hymns by the
choir."

Because the service combines elements
of Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday,
Brannon said Holy Communion is taken at
the beginning of the service and is
symbolic of The Last Supper.

"Then we shift gears dramatically to
into the Good Friday Service," Brannon
said.

During the Tenebrae Service, there is a
gradual darkening of the sanctuary,
symbolic of the darkness that came to
the world with the impending
crucifixion of Christ.

"We have a seven-branch candelabrum and
one candle is extinguished after the
reading of each scripture to show the
gradual darkening of the earth,"
Brannon said. "When the service ends,
the sanctuary is almost in total
darkness."

At that time in the service, the altar
is stripped. All paraments are removed
from the pulpit and the altar.

"Everything is taken away except one
cross on the altar and that cross is
draped with a black cloth," Brannon
said. "The stripping of the altar is
probably the most significant thing we
do because of the impact it has as we
realize what the world would be without
the light of Jesus Christ."

Brannon said if those in the
congregation haven't been touched prior
to the stripping of the altar, they are
then.

"They see that the altar of their
church is being stripped and suddenly
realize how important it is to have the
paraments in the church," he said. "At
that point, we realized the
significance of the Tenebrae Service."

The congregation leaves the sanctuary
in silence. There are no hymns at the
end of the service - only the darkness
and the silence.

"The sanctuary will remain in darkness
until Easter Sunday morning when
everything will be white and bright,"
Brannon said. "Our Easter services are
very meaningful, as we go through Holy
Week one step at a time and linger at
each. We don't race toward the
resurrection. In fact, it won't even be
mentioned until Sunday.

"Too often we have a tendency to run to
the empty tomb and bypass the cross. We
don't want to look at the agony and the
pain of the cross, but it's important
that we see it for what it was. The
cross is the reason we have the light
that comes on Easter morning."

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