Stahlke Adoption

Bursting My Bubble

At our church, one of the most elaborate services of the entire year takes place on Good Friday. The choir leads the service, usually with a cantata or other major work that also serves as the sermon.

For Good Friday yesterday, we employed a lessons/carols format combined with Tenebrae. Readings from the Passion narrative alternated with either hymns by the congregation or Bach chorales by the choir. Ten different people served as layreaders, and as the service progressed, the sanctuary gradually darkened. The congregation sat throughout, both to maintain the contemplative mood and also to simplify an already complicated service. An acolyte gradually extinguished candles, until only the Christ candle remained lit.

At the end of the service, our pastor slammed the Bible very loudly on the altar (a historical tradition called the strepitus) to symbolize the earth shaking and rocks splitting (Matthew 27:51) at Jesus' death. He then carried the Christ candle out of the darkened sanctuary to symbolize Christ's leaving the earth between Good Friday and Easter. The service ended in darkness with a reading that included John 3:16 followed by one more Bach chorale. On the organ, I extended the chorale by playing the mournful melody one last time accompanied only by a pedal point (very long note) on the softest, lowest pedal on the organ.
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At home later that evening, Luda walked through a kitchen and gave me an unsolicited comment: "Mom, I liked the service tonight."

As casually as I could, I asked her, "What did you like about it?"

She answered, "We never had to stand up!"

posted by Stahlkes @ 12:04 PM