Rev Ed Sunday-Winters – Service
Hal Parker – Musical Director
Priscilla Bonney-Smith – Flowers
Maundy Thursday – An Ecological Tenebrae Service*
April 6, 2023
~7:00pm
Scripture: Psalm 22:1-18
Hymn #183 What Wondrous Love Is This
Hymn #196 Stay with Me
Enter in Silence
Scripture reading Psalm 22:1-18
Welcome and prayer
One: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: The Light has come into the world.
All: But the world loved darkness rather than light.
One: Come, let us worship the Lord, who was obedient to death, even death on a cross.
All: Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open unto the prayers of thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
One: We know that Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed
All: And to suffer death on a cross.
One: Hear our prayers, O God.
All: Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
Hymn #183 What Wondrous Love Is This
Jesus is condemned to death. Fossil fuel emissions lead to climate tipping points.
Matthew 27:1-2
Comment and prayer
Candle extinguished.
Hymn #196 (Songs of Spirit) Stay with Me
Jesus takes up his cross. Deforestation leads to Earth’s suffocation.
John 19: 16-17
Comment and prayer
Candle extinguished.
Hymn #196 Stay with Me
Simon of Cyrene carries Jesus’ cross. Communities of color bear the brunt of the eco-crucifixion.**
Matthew 27:32
Comment and prayer
Candle extinguished.
Hymn #196 Stay with Me
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem. Women weep for their children in the age of eco-crucifixion.**
Luke 23: 27-28
Comment and prayer
Candle extinguished.
Hymn #196 Stay with Me
Jesus is stripped of his garments. Global plastics pollution strips Earth of its health and beauty.
Matthew 27:28-30
Comment and prayer
Candle extinguished.
Hymn #196 Stay with Me
Jesus dies on the cross. 43,000 animals die from toxic train derailment.
Matthew 27:35-36, 45-46
Comment and prayer
Candle extinguished.
Hymn #196 Stay with Me
Jesus is laid in the tomb. Species extinction is leading to ecosystem collapse.
Matthew 27:59-61
Comment and prayer
Candle extinguished.
Hymn #196 Stay with Me
“Were You There?” Hal Parker
Please leave in silence.
Hymns are from the Songs of Spirit hymnal.
*This service is shaped by Leah D. Schade in her work,An Ecological Stations of the Cross, 2023.
**Schade coined the term eco-crucifixion “to describe the torture, suffering, and death of thenatural world and human communities due to environmental violence.”