►Hallelujah! We rejoice in our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

After the breakfast and worship services that included the Lord’s Supper, children hunted for candy-filled Easter eggs and families posed for photographs in front of the flowered cross.

►We focus on the cross and mourn the crucifixion death of Jesus.

The symbol of the cross was front and center as scriptures were read, detailing Jesus’ conviction, execution, and burial. We added herbs and flowers and wrapped the cross to symbolize the presence of Jesus’ lifeless body and pallbearers carried it to the cemetery, where the pastor read a eulogy.

►We use symbols to illustrate scriptures that tell us what Jesus experienced on that first Maundy Thursday. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We strip the chancel of adornments and exit somberly, awaiting the execution.

Items brought into the chancel included perfume (the anointing of Jesus), the bread, pitcher and chalices (the Passover meal), the number 3 (the prediction), praying hands (the prayer), a sword (the arrest), a rooster (the denials) and a wooden cross (the trial).

►Passionately, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal arrival in Jerusalem.