Today’s post is by Virginia Cover, Senior Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Have you ever noticed that attendance of families with young children tends to be sparse on Good Friday? As a pastor, I have certainly noticed this, especially in our congregation where these same families readily attend worship. I have a few guesses for this absence. For starters, the Three Days has only recently been recovered and has not been talked about frequently where I serve. But there was more. I asked a few young parents why they stayed away from Good Friday in particular. They told me about services with loud crashing sounds, extended periods of silence (at 7:30p.m. with an over-tired child), and detailed and gory depictions of the crucifixion. One of them told me how they tried to read the story of Jesus’ death from the children’s bible to their young son and he wouldn’t let Dad finish. He physically retreated from the book—the book he normally longs to read from. No parent wants nightmare-central on Easter weekend, and no worshipping community avoids confronting death either. What to do?

As a parent of two young children myself, I began to consider a Good Friday service especially for kids. Another congregation in town was doing a “footsteps of Jesus” kid-friendly event on Good Friday, so why couldn’t we? But the more I planned a Good Friday for kids, the more I rediscovered that nothing is as powerful as the church’s own ancient way of enacting the Three Days: washing feet, eating the meal, stripping the altar, adoring the cross, praying for others, lighting a fire, inscribing a candle, sprinkling water, singing psalms, reading from scripture.

There’s power in the Three Days when we hold them together. Children cannot hold the empty tomb in their minds while singing “how pale thou art in anguish/in sore abuse and scorn” in complete darkness. The adults weren’t holding it together either because the Three Days were so new, and they didn’t yet realize that missing one service meant leaving a hole in the story fabric.

We now have a service every year on Good Friday designed especially for children, yet it involves adults, too, and holds the Three Days together. We lay out a “highway” story map with items representing the high points of the church’s liturgy around the Three Days, telling the biblical story and the liturgical story together as we place each piece on the roadway. Then we spend some time floating through stations that go deeper into each day’s elements: a play dough mat connects the Last Supper to other special meals, a Good Friday sad touch and feel table (nails, rough hewn cross, crown of thorns) with a reflection sheet and coloring page of the Inside Out(Pixar, 2015) character Sad, an art project that when finished reveals a surprise (like the women discovered when they came to the tomb), and so on. One station is dedicated to putting the story in sequence to take home and tell again, either in the form of “story eggs” or watercolor paintings. We close with a taste of Easter in song, scripture and food—we eat “resurrection rolls” put together earlier at one of the stations—a sweet, Alleluia ending to our Three Day exploration. You can read more about the service here.

What I have loved the most about this experience is how the children teach us the important things. To date, the most popular stations are not play dough or art projects but the foot washing. The children know what to do by heart: hold the heel, pour the water, wipe the feet—and they wash and are washed with eagerness and joy every year.

This Maundy Thursday our congregation will be getting out the tubs and towels for the first time together in our main sanctuary. Someone asked if I was nervous about how it would go, since we have never had foot washing in the service before. “Nope!” I replied, “Because the children know what to do. They can teach us!”

Photo above from the Spark Story Bible (Augsburg Fortress: Minneapolis, 2009), 476-477. Illustrations by Peter Grosshauser and Ed Temple

Today’s post is by Miriam Schmidt, pastor/priest of All Saints in Big Sky, a shared ministry of the Episcopal and Lutheran (ELCA) Churches in Big Sky, Montana. 

Children know about death. More than we give them credit for. Many kids by the age of 5 or 7 have experienced at least the death of a beloved pet, or even a family member or friend. They know what it is like one day to be able to burrow their face in a cat’s fur, hold their grandfather’s hand, hear the voice of an auntie calling their name, smell the vanilla scent of Nana; then the next day, to feel the sudden wretched absence that comes with death. There is no longer any way to touch or smell or hear or see the physical body of the one who has died.

Children know about death, the aching hole it leaves behind; and if they do not know about it yet, they will soon enough.

So it is important for us, as adults, to find ways to include our children in Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is a gift of the church to us all. The day’s simple and stark ritual of ashes speaks honestly of death. We take dirt, ashes of palms, and press them onto each other’s foreheads. We say the old words: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

This act might be straight-up depressing, did we not mark the ashes in the shape of a cross. The same cross is marked on the foreheads of the newly baptized. The same cross is inscribed on every Christian forever. With Ash Wednesday’s cross of ashes, we are saying that even in the face of death, our loving God is as close as our skin. Jesus is smudged on us, rubbed into our flesh, so that when we weep with all our hearts for those who have died, we are not alone. God is this close – a cross on our foreheads. So we can live in hope that a God so close will carry us through every death, even our own.

How does your congregation do at involving children in Ash Wednesday? Many children – not to mention their parents – will benefit from some preparation. Perhaps the children can help burn last year’s palms into Ash Wednesday’s ashes after worship on Transfiguration Sunday. On the day itself, maybe children can be invited forward before the Imposition of Ashes to see and touch the ashes for themselves? Can they be allowed to mark their own cross? Or cross another child? Afterwards, on the first Sunday in Lent, can Ash Wednesday’s leftover ashes be brought out again and shown to those who forgot it even was Ash Wednesday, so they can see for themselves.

 This is what we did a few days ago: We traced ashes on foreheads in the shape of the cross. God is as close as the skin on our foreheads. Even in the face of death.

Today’s post is by Linda Witte Henke, an artist specializing in liturgically purposed art for congregation, synod, and churchwide settings (www.lindahenke.com). This is Linda’s second quarterly post providing suggestions and templates for use of visuals to enhance worship.

A mystery of the Revised Common Lectionary is how the texts speak in fresh ways with each repetition of the cycle.  The Year C texts for Lent once again touched my heart and sparked my imagination.  I was especially inspired by how the prayers of the day in Evangelical Lutheran Worship speak eloquently in pointing to the very heart of the gospel and engaging our reflection on the gospel’s significance for our life/faith journeys:

• Lent I – Sunday, March 10-  Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness [Luke 4:1-13]

O Lord God, you led your people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide us now, so that, following your Son, we may walk safely through the wilderness of this world toward the life you alone can give, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

• Lent II – Sunday, March 17 – Jesus longs to gather his brood [Luke 13:31-35]

God of the covenant, in the mystery of the cross you promise everlasting life to the world. Gather all peoples into your arms, and shelter us with your mercy, that we may rejoice in the life we share in your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

• Lent III – Sunday, March 24 –  Parable of the unproductive fig tree [Luke 13:1-9]

Eternal God, your kingdom has broken into our troubled world through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son. Help us to hear your word and obey it, and bring your saving love to fruition in our lives, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

• Lent IV – Sunday March 31-  Parable of the prodigal father [Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32]

God of compassion, you welcome the wayward, and you embrace us all with your mercy. By our baptism clothe us with garments of your grace, and feed us at the table of your love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

• Lent V – Sunday, April 7-  A woman anoints Jesus [John 12:1-8]

Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness, and your grace waters our desert. Open our hearts to be transformed by the new thing you are doing, that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love given to all through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

These pairings of gospel texts and prayers of the day inspired creation of the visuals I offer for your consideration in planning Lenten worship.  This overview introduces the theme, visuals, and possible applications (to view, select “Open with -> MS Power Point Online,” then select “View -> from the beginning”).  As you begin to envision possibilities for your ministry setting, explore these specific resources:

• Full-color graphics suited for use on bulletin covers, as projected worship images, for incorporation in print and/or electronic communications, for developing printed fabric-or-paper banners, etc.
• Simple line drawings for use as coloring pages to engage children with each week’s gospel or as enlarged as posters used for an intergenerational coloring project that could provide Children’s Message illustrations or be mounted and displayed in worship.
• Sample worship bulletin covers incorporating the visuals in two standard bulletin sizes.
• Sample worship projection graphics linking the visuals with the prayers of the day.
• Sample postcard design to encourage participation in Lenten worship by those within and beyond the congregation.
• Sample electronic design to promote Lenten worship on your website and/or social media platforms and to provide members with a tool for inviting family and friends to participate with them in Lenten worship.
• Suggested reflection prompts on the links between the gospel texts and the Prayers of the Day.

I often use my home congregation to field test my work. They were inspired to use the “Prayers for the Journey” theme for both Sunday worship and mid-week services. On Sundays, we’ll use the visuals and prayers of the day to focus on the gospel texts; for midweek worship, we’ll use the “journey prayer” (ELW p. 317) as a lens for deeper exploration of how our personal journeys intersect with Jesus’ journey to the cross.  May your congregation’s worship planning be similarly inspired!

Today’s post is by artist Robyn Sand Anderson.

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us.

Luke 1:78

Copyright Robyn Sand Anderson

Tender mercy.

Those two words came to me the other night, when I wondered what I would write for this Advent blog. I let the beauty of those two words wash over me as I said each word with a pause after, so as not to rush the beauty that lies within them. Tender. Mercy. The tender mercy of our God. We don’t hear about that side of God very often and so this verse from Luke 1:78 stands out. It is hard to take in this extraordinary gift. We cannot fathom it, really. But then. A baby was born to a common, young girl named Mary. In this birth we are promised that “…the dawn from on high will break upon us.”

As I wrestle with all that is happening in our country, the anguish of those who have been separated from their children, the deceit and raw grab for power by some, the disregard for certain groups of people, the fomenting of hatred and violence, these words stand in deep contrast. Some equate the words tender and mercy with weakness. But here we see that in the midst of this turmoil, these words are strong with the promise that God so loved the world that God chose to speak to us of this Love in the form of a child named Jesus. And so we wait during this Advent season, and we open our eyes, hearts, and minds to what God is telling us in this place and time.

It is God’s tender mercy, not vengeful, not punishing, but a tender mercy that is bestowed on us in our misery, in our sorrow, in our mistakes and blunders. And that Light will guide us and will seep into our darkness from on high. For God so loves the world. We are not abandoned, but are held in God’s tender mercy.

As we turn to one another this season, where can we show the same to those we meet and know, to those who are persecuted now, to this beautiful planet that God has given us with all of its plants and animals? God promises we are not alone in this, but that God’s Light is in, under, and over us as we seek to speak a word of love, mercy, and justice in the name of Christ Jesus.

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us.

Today’s post is by Pastor Janelle Rozek Hooper, Program Director for Ministry with Children, ELCA.

I often hear that children participating in the Christmas story, whether rehearsed or spontaneous, holds strong emotions and memories for family, friends and especially grandparents. The time, energy and availability of children, family and youth leaders has changed over the years but the desire to have children participate in worship during the Advent/Christmas season has not. We can’t even fathom only hearing the Christmas story with words; we want to see donkeys in fur and angels with glitter piping. We can’t imagine not using as many of our senses as possible or the beauty of the imperfect perfect telling of the Good News that happens when real people tell this amazing story.

So why not the rest of the year?  How come we can only handle kids voices leading worship or acting out scripture once a year? Were the kids engaged in worship of God? Yes! Were the adults? Yes!

How can we involve children in such leadership throughout the church year, trusting the Holy Spirit is imparting spiritual gifts at all times? Not every Sunday has to have the same high production value. If our places of worship would commit to even one more way of engaging young people in worship over the course of a church season and then be open to another way the next season, I truly believe the engagement of all ages would double.

Here are seven suggestions to get you prayerfully thinking about what might be the “one thing” to continue past the Advent/Christmas season for engaging young people in worship.

• Songs accessible for children who can’t read, such as repetitive choruses, Taizé, camp songs.
• Scripture reading geared toward children’s learning style, such as a children’s Bible with lots of verbs
• A senior and a young person co-reading a lesson or leading the prayers
• Experiential aspects of worship, such as a youth pouring water into the font
• Children’s artwork for slideshows, bulletin covers, or other places in the worship space
• Adults and youth working together on Audio/Visual (AV) ministry
• Congregations with SundaysandSeasons.com can download and print “pre-reader” and “reader” versions of children’s bulletins

And many more! I offer a whole host of ideas about how to offer intergenerational worship and engage young people in worship at www.ministrylinks.online. In fact under the tab “Ministry” there is a drop down for “Seasonal Resources” that begins with the liturgical calendar. Wonderful and yet easy Christmas Plays can be found there. As Program Director for Ministry with Children for the ELCA, I’m also available to chat about your specific needs in your context. Janelle.Hooper@ELCA.org. Please be in touch!

Photo courtesy of Amanda Faucett Photography

Today’s post is by Linnéa Clark, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania.

One of my favorite features of Evangelical Lutheran Worship is its “End Time” section (#s 433-441). When the end of the lectionary year arrives, I find myself turning to beautiful, timeless hymns that long for the fulfillment of God’s reign and the coming of Jesus. Many of the “End Times” hymns hold longing in tension with joy as they celebrate God’s promises and proclaim that God’s reign is already at hand.

Lately, I have been drawn to “On Jordan’s stormy bank I stand” (ELW 437). The text, drawn from a longer hymn written in 1787, describes the contrast between where we are – waiting on “Jordan’s stormy bank” – and God’s promised kingdom, where there is no sickness, sorrow, pain, or death. The text refuses to resolve: with a pair of questions, the final stanza voices a deep yearning to see the face of Christ. Each stanza of the hymn culminates in a refrain that empowers us to join in God’s work ourselves: “Oh, who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land.”

This hymn lives a parallel life outside the pages of hymnals like Evangelical Lutheran Worship in the Sacred Harp community which sings traditional a cappella American shape-note music. Originally developed in North America and England in the late 1700s, shaped notation was intended to help congregations sight-read hymns and sing well in harmony. Shape-note “singing schools” quickly acquired a life of their own outside the church. Today, Sacred Harp groups can be found around the world, and they welcome first-time participants.* “On Jordan’s Stormy Bank I Stand” appears as “The Promised Land” (128) in the 1991 revision of The Sacred Harp.

In Sacred Harp performance practice, the melody of this song is carried by the tenor part, a mixture of high and low voices. It is surrounded by bass (low), alto (high), and treble (mixed low and high) voices. When sung, the melody weaves in and out of the six-part harmony. The most striking feature of the song is its minor key, a sharp contrast to the major key printed in ELW and other hymnals. When Sacred Harp singers sing “The Promised Land” in its customary minor key, they tend to sing it quickly. It has a powerful forward energy, as though the singers are already pressing onward through the storm toward the promised land. You can listen here to a video from the singing community in Cork, Ireland.

If you choose to sing “On Jordan’s Stormy Bank I Stand” this season, I invite you to lean into its longing for God’s coming reign by experimenting with your interpretation. Alternate interpretations help to illuminate different aspects of the text. Try singing it faster, interpreting its time signature as 2/2 rather than 4/4. You might even choose to read its key signature as E minor instead of E-flat major, adding an air of conviction and resolve. The stormy bank, the wide extended plains, the longing, and the journey toward the promised land come vividly to life.

As Advent approaches, may love and longing for God’s promised reign of justice and peace enrich your shared song.

*Interested in exploring this hymn in its Sacred Harp context? Visit fasola.org to find a regular singing near you. No experience is necessary, and people of all ages, abilities, and experiences are welcome to sing and lead songs.