THIS SUNDAY:
April 5, 2020
Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
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Morning Prayer Readings
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Matthew 21:1-11
The Liturgy of the Palms
The Liturgy of the Word
8:00AM
CHURCH SERVICE CANCELLED
Service available online on the All Saints' website and Facebook page, and via phone, see info below
9:30AM
CHURCH SERVICE CANCELLED
Service available online on the All Saints' website and Facebook page, and via phone, see info below
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Youth Group Palm Cross Instructional Meeting
Sunday, April 5
th
10:00AM
Those who are interested in joining the Youth Group Zoom Meetings may contact Cami at
[email protected]
for login information.
Youth Group Hosts Live Compline Service
Maundy Thursday, April 9
th
6:30PM
Those who are interested in joining the Youth Group Zoom Meetings may contact Cami at
[email protected]
for login information.
Youth Group Hosts: Reading of the Stations of the Cross
Good Friday, April 10
th
1:00PM
Those who are interested in joining the Youth Group Zoom Meetings may contact Cami at
[email protected]
for login information.
Preschool Spring Break
EXTENDED
Monday, March 16
th
-
Thursday
,
April 30
th
7:15AM - 5:15PM
Sloggett Center
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RECURRING EVENTS
ALL RECURRING EVENTS SUSPENDED UNTIL APRIL 30
th
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Sunday School
Every Sunday, 9:30 - 10:15AM
Memorial Hall
Aloha Hour
Every Sunday, 10:45AM - 12:00PM
Under the big tree
Monday Crew
Every Monday, 8:00AM
Church Office
Laundry Love
1
st
& 3
rd
Wednesday, 5:00PM
Kapa`a Laundromat
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McMaster Slack Key Guitar and Ukulele Concert
Every Wednesday, 6:00PM
Church
Daughters of the King
2
nd
& 4
th
Thursday, 7:00 - 8:00PM
Memorial Hall
Choir Practice
Every Thursday, 6:00PM
Choir Room
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All Saints' Response to COVID-19
ACCESSING SUNDAY SERVICES
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Please be advised that Kahu Kawika and Fr. Andrew from St. Michael and All Angel's Church in Lihue are collaborating to provide a special joint service recording for Sunday's worship service.
The recording will be available for viewing on our website,
www.allsaintskauai.org
and the All Saints' Facebook page by Sunday morning.
Congregants will also have the option to listen to the recording by calling the church office, (808) 822-4267, and following the prompts provided through our new auto attendant feature.
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All Saints’ Holy Week Schedule
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April 5
th
,
Palm Sunday
9:00AM Online Service*
10:00AM Youth Zoom palm cross instruction**
April 9
th
,
Maundy Thursday
6:00PM Online Service*
6:30PM Youth Zoom Compline service**
April 10
th
, Good Friday
12:00PM Online Service*
1:00PM Youth Zoom Stations of the Cross**
April 12
th
,
Easter
9:00AM Online Service*
* Please be advised that Kahu Kawika and Fr. Andrew from St. Michael and All Angel's Church in Lihue are collaborating to provide a special joint service recording for Holy Week's worship services.The recording will be available for viewing on our website,
www.allsaintskauai.org
and the All Saints’ Facebook page. Congregants will also have the option to listen to the recording by calling the church office, (808) 822-4267, and following the prompts provided through our new auto attendant feature.
** Those who are interested in joining the Youth Group Zoom Meetings may contact Cami at
[email protected]
for login information.
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A Message from Kahu Kawika
"It May Be Friday, But Sunday's Coming."
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As Holy Week approaches next week, I am reminded of an experience I had early in my ministry when I was visiting a predominantly inner-city African-American congregation. It was Good Friday, and the pastor stood up at the pulpit and proceeded to give a sermon with the shortest amount of words I have ever heard - just seven words! He began to speak in a slow and subdued voice, “It may be Friday, but Sunday’s coming.” Several members of the congregation said “Amen” and through head nods and other signs signaled their engagement with the speaker. The pastor then said again in a louder voice with more emphasis, “It may be Friday, but Sunday’s coming!” More vociferous positive responses from the congregation ensued. The pastor then went back to his same refrain, “It may be Friday, but Sunday’s coming!” There ended up a sort of call-and-response rhythm that, to my surprise, instilled a sense of hope and aspiration.
My siblings in Christ, we as a society are definitely in the midst of the extended “Good Friday.” We are living through a time of trial, waiting, and endurance, feelings that are part and parcel to the “Good Friday” experience. Many of us are having financial downturns through job furloughs or curtailments, or a decreased investment portfolio; others are having health issues associated with COVID-19 or other illnesses not being addressed as well due to the omnipresence of the effects of the pandemic on medical facilities; and a lot of us personally know other people going through these things. The sense of stillness outside due to travel restrictions, quarantines, and curfews is palpable, maybe akin to the stillness during which Jesus is hanging on the cross between 12 noon and 3pm on the original Good Friday. Regrettably, this has led to the temporary cessation of in-person Sunday services and other church gatherings, as well as in-person community outreach endeavors like Laundry Love - I even wanted to start up a Drive-Up Communion opportunity on Sunday mornings, but the Mayor’s office said we could not do that. Most notably, we are going through this time of struggle in which we are not sure of its terminus, like Jesus’ friends nearly 2,000 years ago who did not yet know the joy awaiting them on Easter Sunday.
And yet, there are also signs of “Easter Sunday” happening around us. Carolyn Morinishi had the brilliant idea of having church volunteers buy groceries on behalf of our kupuna for whom venturing out to a supermarket could well endanger their health. Through this means, volunteers and I can also bring reserved sacrament (a blessed wafer) along with us with the groceries we are delivering to those who want communion, without breaking the governmental mandate against special home communion trips. In addition, I have heard a number of stories of people praying for one another and continuing to make contact via phone, email, and other remote means with each other. We have also had very engaging and delightful times of Bible exploration on Monday evenings via Zoom and phone conferencing, looking at the life of Jesus in his last week on earth during the events of Holy Week - providing a sense of fellowship even though geographically distant from one another. And an opportunity for shared ministry and parish cooperation has arisen in the form of filming Morning Prayer with music in combination with the parish leadership of St. Michael & All Angels in Lihue — we will also do combined filming in All Saints’ sanctuary for the upcoming services of Maundy Thursday (4/9), Good Friday (4/10), Easter Sunday (4/12), and Easter 2 or Thomas Sunday (4/19). Finally, we all look forward to the Sunday in the near future when we can finally come together for worship in our sanctuary and on church property - our Bishop Bob has suggested we shift our focus to designating that Sunday “Resurrection Sunday.”
My Siblings in God’s love, it may well be Friday, but Sunday is definitely coming! Let’s continue to pray and to work toward that hopeful reality, to be creative in ways to serve those around us, as well as for those of us with financial means to continue to support the ministry of All Saints, because we as God’s church is not closed although the church building is. Let us not give up on God, because God has not given up on us.
A hui hou i ke aloha o ke Akua,
Kahu Kawika+
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The Power of Prayer
Senior Warden David Murray's Reflections
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The All Saints’ Church Annual Meeting took place on Sunday, January 26
th
which, as I look back, seems like a long, long time ago in a land far, far away! Terry Duffert and his wife who were visiting from California happened to be driving by the church on that Sunday morning. The church looked inviting so they decided to come in and join us for worship. What a surprise for them – not only was there a regular Sunday service but they were also treated to a continental breakfast. They even sat through the Annual Meeting! God bless them!
In the course of conversation, Terry informed me that he had been having severe medical problems following an accident and he gave me a pew card which he had filled out with the usual name, address and phone number. On the back of the card he had written a note asking for prayers to help him deal with his medical problems.
For the next three weeks we added Terry’s name to the Prayers of the People asking for healing. And, just to let him know that we had forgotten him, we sent him a copy of a service bulletin with his name included in the Prayers. So there’s an end to this story, you think? Actually, no – there’s more.
At the end of March we received a
Thank You
card from Terry which included a donation for the church and had the following message inside:
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Aloha David!
Please accept this donation to All Saints’ as a thank you for all your prayers during my visit and beyond. It really helped, as my back is completely healed! You gave me much encouragement which makes me want to encourage others.
My wife and I enjoyed coming to All Saints’ and felt very welcomed, and hope to return in the near future.
With aloha,
Terry Duffert
In this current environment of self quarantine, social distancing, and lock downs it is so nice to hear that a totally unplanned visit to All Saints’ had such a positive outcome for a stranger who just happened to be driving by on a beautiful, Sunday morning and decided to join us for worship.
I hope that we will soon be able to welcome visitors into our church once again.
-David Murray
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USE OF ALL SAINTS' CHURCH FACILITIES SUSPENDED UNTIL APRIL 30
th
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The use of the church sanctuary, Memorial Hall, Gym, and Sloggett Center by all church and outside groups has been suspended until April 30
th
.
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MALAMA ALL SAINTS'
Stewardship: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.
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Mahalo for your financial support of our ministries and outreach programs. You can easily make your offerings to All Saints' by clicking on the button below which will link you to the Church's website where you can make a donation via PayPal.
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Checks can be mailed to:
All Saints' Episcopal Church
PO Box 248
Kapaa, HI 96746
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Shopping Assistance for Kūpuna
All Saints' Volunteers Help With Groceries
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During the COVID-19 health crisis and lockdown, the CDC has recommended that people age 65 and over stay home as much as possible to lessen their risk of infection. Because of this, All Saints' is starting a "Shopping Assistance" program for our kūpuna. The organizer/coordinator is Carolyn Morinishi.
Any All Saints' member who is in the high risk category can ask for shopping assistance. They can call the coordinator at 651-2061. The coordinator will assign a volunteer to do the shopping. (Note: The volunteers will always sanitize their hands and the shopping basket or wagon.)
The volunteer will coordinate with the senior member for the best drop-off time. The senior member must have cash payment ready when the groceries are delivered. The cash payment and grocery delivery will occur via drop-off outside on the front doorstep of the house, to maintain social distancing.
In addition, Kahu Kawika can provide blessed communion wafers and a prayer, to be delivered with the groceries (if desired). We had a "trial run" of our Shopping Assistance program and communion wafer delivery on March 25, and it was very successful (see photo above).
We currently have a small team of four volunteers. If anyone is interested in being a volunteer, please call Carolyn at 651-2061. Thank you!
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Palm Cross Workshop Postponed
New Date Yet to Be A
nnounced
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Aloha e oukou,
In light of the safety directives in place, we are postponing the making of palm crosses originally set for this Saturday, 4 April. The Bishop has directed us to put the emphasis of Resurrection upon the first Sunday that we will be able to gather physically for worship together, hopefully in May. Thus, in the run-up to that gathering for worship, we can have the making of palm crosses. Due to the new reality in which we are living, we need to re-calibrate when and how we would do our normal church activities.
Much mahalo for your faithfulness in these times,
Kahu Kawika+
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Support Kaua`i's Farmers and Added Value Producers
Pick up and Delivery Available
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Many of our Kaua`i farmers and value added business people are having a difficult time reaching the customers they used to serve at the local farmers’ markets. There are two online sites where many of these folk have their wares available for pickup and/or delivery.
This website lists the three farmers’ markets still operating as of March 23
rd
. It also includes the names of retail outlets that sell local products. There are phone numbers and/or links to individual farmers, etc. that you can contact for meat, produce/fruit, dairy, and locally made food for pickup or delivery.
This website provides the contact phone numbers for farmers who are offering a variety of fruits and vegetables for sale with the price listed on each. They hope to have meat, dairy, and other items available soon.
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New Labyrinth Painted on March 23
rd
Please Provide Your Feedback
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Thanks to Ron Morinishi for the labyrinth photograph. Thanks to William Brown for the photograph of David Murray power washing labyrinth bricks.
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The Labyrinth designer, Bob Vlach, painted the new labyrinth on Monday, March 23
rd. Please take some time to stop by All Saints' and look at and walk the new Labyrinth. We welcome your feedback on the design so please contact Ron Morinishi by Thursday, April 30
th
with your suggestions.
If there are no changes, construction will commence as soon as the COVID19 restrictions subside.
-Ron Morinishi
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Due to the COVID-19 health crisis, construction on the labyrinth will be delayed. The donation deadline has been extended to 7/31/20. For any questions about the labyrinth project, please contact Ron, Carolyn or Faith.
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Click
here
for the donation form.
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This Week In Sunday School
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Palm Sunday
Jesus Enters Jerusalem
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Sunday School has been suspended until the Diocese gives us the ok to return to the All Saints' campus for worship. Until that time, the Sunday School article in
The Epistle
will include more information so the parents of our keiki can share the lesson with their children.
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Summary of Today’s Story
Jesus and his disciples come to Jerusalem for the Passover. Jesus tells his disciples to find a donkey and bring it to him. He gets on the donkey and rides into Jerusalem.
As he enters the city, a crowd of people spread their cloaks on the road. Other people spread palm branches on the road before him, shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Weaving our Story with the Biblical Story
Most of the people at the time saw Jesus as an earthly messiah or a prophet. But we know him as the Messiah, the one who comes from heaven to reconcile us with God.
This story of Palm Sunday, though it depicts Jesus’ “triumphal entry into Jerusalem,” contains in it the seeds of sorrow. For we know also that his journey ends not in triumph but in death. We know that later he “was crucified, died, and was buried.” We know that the people later deny him, that Peter later denies him, that even we sometimes deny him. And Jesus knew that, too.
Still Jesus stayed with us to the end, to his crucifixion and death. He remained true to his mission—to be
God with us
. This event, which we call
Palm Sunday
or
Passion Sunday
, is the beginning of the end of his mission. But it is also the beginning of new life for us, as Jesus gives his own life to bring us new life in him.
That is why this time—the beginning of Holy Week, the most solemn time of our church year—is so important to us as Christians.
It is fitting that this Palm/Passion Sunday event begins our Holy Week, for in Jesus’ life and ministry his entry into Jerusalem just before the Passover was an enacted symbol of the coming of the reign of God. Jesus knew the prophetic writing of Zechariah 9:9:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah here proclaims the coming of the ruler of God’s people, one who would restore Jerusalem to the eschatological glory promised to her as the mother of Israel. Jesus takes this symbolic story of Zechariah and enacts it in reality, to signal the reign of God coming to fulfillment in him—
God with us.
Jesus’ enactment of the coming of the reign of God will continue as he brings to his people a renewed covenant between God and God’s people in his Last Supper. As he shares his body and blood with his disciples, it becomes clear that Jesus himself is the center of that new covenant. Jesus becomes for us the fulfillment of God’s promises of union with God
in a new creation.
Telling the Story
Read aloud today’s story from a children’s Bible, showing the pictures, tell the story in your own words.
If you tell the story, focus on the large crowds of people who hail Jesus as the Messiah, the one “who comes in the name of the Lord,” though by later this week they will have him killed. But now, tell about the joy in the city, the cloaks spread out and the palms thrown down to greet him as people in those times greeted the arrival of a king.
You may connect this story to your church’s celebration of Palm Sunday in your worship service, especially if you have the children re-enact the story in the procession of palms and/or tell the story in dramatic form.
Or you could show excerpts from the film version of
Jesus Christ Superstar
, specifically the scene relating to Christ’s passion. There are also other, more traditionally presented films depicting Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and showing the kind of excitement that Jesus’ action generated, which very soon dissolved into the chaos around Jesus’ condemnation and death.
After telling the story, proceed to Prayer, saving any discussion for later, while having snacks or doing an activity.
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Upcoming Family Retreat
Make plans now!
Save The Date
August 28-30, 2020
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All Saints has reserved YWCA Camp Sloggett for the weekend of August 28-30, 2020.
Hopefully we will be through with the Coronavirus restrictions and be able to participate in a fun family-centered and spirit-filled weekend. Reserve the date and stay hopeful.
Registraton forms and complete information will be available once we get closer to the date.
-Mary Margaret Smith
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BISHOP SUSPENDS ALL WORSHIP & GATHERINGS IN OUR CHURCHES THROUGH April 30, 2020
PLEASE GO TO THE DIOCESE'S CORONAVIRUS WEBPAGE FOR ALL THE LATEST UPDATES AND INFORMATION & STAY INFORMED
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A video message from the Bishop
The Bishopʻs Wednesday Message:
First Letter of Peter
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During this time of separation, Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick will be sharing video messages on Mondays and Wednesdays. The Wednesday message will be a lesson/reflection. He invites all to join him over the next few weeks as he talks about the First Letter of Peter. Click on his image above to watch the video on YouTube.
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Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent
WORSHIP
April 5, 2020 – Palm Sunday
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Drawing on the ancient practice of setting aside Lent as a period of study and preparation for living as a Christian disciple, we are pleased to present weekly teachings from
Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent
. Learn more at
episcopalchurch.org/life-transformed
.
READ
Zephaniah 3:12-20
One of the most dramatic elements of WORSHIP in the Easter Vigil is the element of surprise and delight baked into the liturgy. We start in darkness and subdued energy only to have a burst of worship-filled energy when we get to the ultimate song of worship: the Gloria! When we arrive at the Gloria, we throw on the lights, ring bells, sing at our loudest, and may even have a gleeful asperging (sprinkling of holy water as a reminder of our baptism). We are celebrating the greatest surprise of all: the resurrection of Jesus, which put an end to death. This drama is an invitation to let our hearts be moved from fear and despair into gratitude and joy.
In this final oracle from Zephaniah, we hear a distinct call to worship that follows the same dramatic arc that we find in the Easter Vigil. God has come. It is a time for celebrate. We are told to “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you.... On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion ... he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love.” Here we see that God intends to turn all our fear into rejoicing, which means our worship should well up as an overwhelming act of gratitude.
In Jesus, the prophecy of Zephaniah is fulfilled. From the very moment he was born, the angels cried out to say “fear not” before breaking into their own Gloria song, mirroring ours during the Easter Vigil. In response to this wonderful gift from God, the shepherds ran to his stable to worship the newborn King of Peace. As their fears subsided, their gratitude naturally flowed. Yet, by the time Jesus’ life is ending, when faced with the possibility of following him to the cross, the disciples are once again filled with fear. When they are reunited with the resurrected Jesus, the doors of a new future are flung open and they return to a stance of gratitude and worship. Their fear of eternal death, as well as our own, has been buried in the empty tomb. We are invited to rejoice and let our gratitude for the gift of new life draw us to worship God.
REFLECT
: In our reading this week, we are called let go of our fears so that we might truly worship God. What brings you the most joy in your life? Can that joy be offered up to God as an act of worship?
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Lord, Hear My Prayers
March 31, 2020
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Lord, hear my prayers,
be with –
caregivers
healthcare providers
grocery store workers
day care providers
teachers and students
lawmakers
church leaders and musicians
artists
Lord, hear my prayers,
be with –
the worried
the anxious
the fearful
the hopeful
the persistent.
Lord, hear my prayers,
be with –
our neighbors
the elderly
the impoverished
the homeless
the hungry
the unemployed
people craving connection.
Lord, hear my prayers,
be with –
our world
our cities and towns
our farms
our communities
our neighborhoods.
Lord, settle my soul
fill it with your peace
your presence
your hope
your love
your grace
fill it with you, Lord Jesus Christ,
the light in the darkness
the love that springs eternal
the hope that always rises.
Lord be near me,
today and always
in sickness and health
in worry and peace
in fear and calm.
Lord, hear my prayers,
Amen.
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Kimberly Knowle-Zeller is an ordained ELCA pastor, mother of two, and spouse of an ELCA pastor. She lives with her family in Cole Camp, MO. You can read more at her
website
or follow her work on
Facebook
.
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Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Word to the Church
Holy Week and Easter Day 2020 Online worship supported & encouraged
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Last week I stated publicly my support for bishops who, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, decide “for a designated period of time . . . to cancel in-person gatherings for public worship.” I write now concerning the need to suspend in-person gatherings for public worship, in most contexts, during the sacred time of Holy Week and Easter Day.
Because this is a global health crisis, the principles in this letter apply throughout The Episcopal Church, including beyond the United States.
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Worship and Formation Resources
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An Episcopal Morning Prayer Podcast
Daily Morning Prayer at 7:30 am, Daily Evening Prayer at 6 pm, according to the Book of Common Prayer (1979)
As congregations, families, and individuals seek to live faithfully in these uncertain times, Church Publishing Incorporated is working to support you.
Engaging and convenient online learning from Episcopal experts on liturgy, evangelism, welcome, discipleship, stewardship and other important topics.
Canon Katie is an Episcopal priest, and this is the home of Pop-up Prayer. Seekers and doubters, spiritual and religious: we make our community together.
This site offers the daily selections from Forward Day by Day, a liturgical calendar, and more resources to strengthen your faith and heart.
Pray with us. Pray along with our community... or submit your own.
The experiment: merge centuries-old tradition with innovative technology by making a prayer partner out of Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa.
A year-round weekly email that will include four separate lectionary-based reflections and prompts for families (however that is defined) and friend groups.
Resources for prayer and worship at home.
This Forward Movement initiative welcomes organizations of all kinds to gather and equip Episcopalians to read a particular book of the Bible throughout a season.
Complete Public Domain Hymn List.
As we are all spending more time at home either by ourselves, with family or with friends, we wanted to offer resources for faith formation and enrichment at home.
From the Diocese of Chicago.
Jesus teaches us to come before God with humble hearts, boldly offering our thanksgivings and concerns to God or simply listening for God’s voice in our lives and in the world. When we pray, we invite and dwell in God’s loving presence. How can we do that in the midst of life’s storms—either figuratively or, in the Rev. Canon Katie Churchwell’s case, literally? Join us as we visit with her about Pop-up Prayer in St. Petersburg, Florida.
An online portal (or app) to pray the scriptures.
This Lent, we invite you to join Episcopal Migration Ministries as we journey the Stations of the Cross. Sign up to receive Reflections on the Stations of the Cross via email.
The Book of Common Prayer is a treasure chest full of devotional and teaching resources for individuals and congregations, but it is also the primary symbol of our unity, as Armentrout and Slocum note in their An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, that “Anglican liturgical piety has been rooted in the Prayer Book tradition since the publication of the first English Prayer Book in 1549.”
The Rev. James Farwell, Ph.D., Professor of Theology and Liturgy, and Lisa Kimball, Ph.D., James Maxwell Professor of Lifelong Christian Formation at Virginia Seminary helped to imagine (and plan for) Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and the Great Vigil of Easter when congregations cannot assemble in person.
Resources, documents, and notes
.
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Palm Sunday
The Sunday of the Passion
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The Sunday before Easter at which Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mt 21:1-11, Mk 11:1-11a, Lk 19:29-40) and Jesus' Passion on the cross (Mt 26:36-27:66, Mk 14:32-15:47, Lk 22:39-23:56) are recalled. It is also known as the Sunday of the Passion. Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week. Red is the liturgical color for the day. The observance of Palm Sunday in Jerusalem was witnessed by the pilgrim Egeria in about 381-384. During this observance there was a procession of people down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. The people waved branches of palms or olive trees as they walked. They sang psalms, including Ps 118, and shouted the antiphon, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" The Palm Sunday observance was generally accepted throughout the church by the twelfth century. However, the day was identified in the 1549 BCP as simply "The Sunday next before Easter." The blessing of branches and the procession were not included. The 1928 BCP added the phrase "commonly called Palm Sunday" to the title of the day. A form for blessing palms was provided by the Book of Offices (1960). The 1979 BCP presents the full title for the day, "The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday" (BCP, p. 270). The liturgy of the palms is the entrance rite for the service. The congregation may gather at a place apart from the church and process to the church after the blessing of the branches of palm or other trees (BCP, p. 270). The liturgy of the palms includes a reading of one of the gospel accounts of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. The branches may be distributed to the people before the service or after the prayer of blessing. All the people hold branches in their hands during the procession. Appropriate hymns, psalms, or anthems are sung. The Prayer Book notes that the hymn "All glory, laud, and honor" (Hymns 154-155) and Ps 118:19-29 may be used (BCP, p. 271). The Hymnal 1982 also provides "Ride on! ride on in majesty!" (Hymn 156) and "Hosanna in the highest" (Hymn 157) for the procession at the liturgy of the palms. The Hymnal 1982 provides musical settings for the opening anthem, the blessing over the branches, and the bidding for the procession (Hymn 153). The procession may halt for a station at an appropriate place such as the church door. The BCP provides a stational collect which may be used (p. 272). The palm liturgy may be led by a deacon or lay reader if a bishop or priest is unavailable.
When the service includes the eucharist, the liturgy of the palms is followed by the salutation and the collect of the day. The service changes focus abruptly from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the solemnity of the Passion. In the 1979 BCP, the Passion gospel is drawn from one of the three synoptic accounts of the Passion, one of which is appointed for each of the three years in the eucharistic lectionary. The Passion gospel is announced simply, "The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to _________." The customary responses before and after the gospel are omitted (BCP, p. 272). The Passion gospel may be read or chanted by lay persons. Specific roles may be assigned to different persons, with the congregation taking the part of the crowd (BCP, p. 273). It is customary to observe a brief time of silence when the moment of Jesus' death is described by the narrator. The Hymnal 1982 provides a variety of hymns concerning the Passion, including "Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle" (Hymns 165-166), "O sacred head, sore wounded" (Hymns 168-169), and "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" (Hymn 172).
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THE EPISCOPAL NEWS SERVICE
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How to prevent ‘Zoombombing’ from disrupting virtual services
By Aysha Khan
Posted Mar 31, 2020
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As Zoom and other videoconferencing services become more common, so are the disruptions known as “Zoombombing.” Image: Religion News Service
[Religion News Service – Boston, Massachusetts] On Sunday, Alex Merritt was signed in to the Zoom video conferencing app, discussing a biblical passage with members of his Sunday school young adults group at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas.
Then the trolls attacked.
Some began sharing their screens and drawing obscene images over the text the group had been discussing. “You are being hacked! You are being hacked!” one shouted. Another turned on his video and began revealing his genitals.
“It was generally chaotic and impossible to stop,” recalled Merritt. “It was a huge wake-up call for me because I’m an elementary public school teacher, and I don’t want the children in my class exposed to any of the pornographic images that trolls sent us.”
The mass transition of houses of worship to Zoom and other online video conferencing platforms has meant that religious services are more accessible than ever before.
Unfortunately for digital congregants, that means they are also more accessible to online trolls who have plenty of free time to disrupt their services with obscene or hateful interruptions.
Merritt’s church group, which had to shut down its meeting and set up a new one, originally put a public Zoom link on its website. Now, the group will only send the link to members of its private Facebook groups, all of whom have been approved.
“I think places of worship need to be really careful when they put public Zoom links on their websites, especially if those links are to meeting spaces where there will be young children,” Merritt told Religion News Service. “Places of worship, ideally, want to be places that anyone can attend. At the moment, they need to balance this desire to be open to all who seek and the reality that there are folks out there who would sabotage these digital spaces.”
The epidemic of “
Zoombombing
” has spared no one, with trolls finding meeting links that have been posted online, then sharing and drawing graphic content on participants’ screens — leaving schools and universities, churches and synagogues alike with no choice but to close their meetings abruptly.
A Shabbat service held via Zoom by a Bay Area synagogue was
crashed
by Nazis. A Unitarian Universalist church in Massachusetts saw a livestreamed service on YouTube
deluged
with dislikes. A livestreamed church service in Los Angeles was hacked and
replaced
with porn. A Zoom webinar last week with the People’s Forum, an activist-oriented cultural space directed by theologian Claudia de la Cruz, was disrupted by a troll posting the n-word in the chat window repeatedly until administrators blocked him.
“My heart sank when I saw it happen,” said the Rev. Jason Wells, who had joined the People’s Forum event from Concord, New Hampshire, and saw the racist messages. “There are lots of great justice workers on that call and I felt deflated when I thought of how it would affect everyone there.”
On Sunday morning, the Rev. Laura Everett was on Zoom at Boston’s First Baptist Church preaching about death when users from outside the church’s congregation hijacked the service.
After finding a link to the meeting, which Everett had tweeted so her followers could tune in to her sermon, the trolls began forcing racist and anti-LGBT hate speech onto participants’ screens.
“Hate doesn’t stop in a pandemic,” she tweeted as church leaders stopped the meeting and reconvened in a password-protected web conference. “Lord, have mercy.”
The disruption left Everett thinking about the “profound brokenness” in the men who harassed her and her congregants.
“Candidly, as a Preacher, I’ve got enough work now: Exegete the Scripture, Say something wise during a pandemic?” Everett
tweeted
afterward. “Preach the sermon, Run Tech set up, Live stream to FB/Twitter/Zoom. What I don’t need is more work from internet trolls #zoombombing & harassing me and the congregation.”
Combined with the desire to leave their churches’ doors open to the masses, many religious leaders’ newness with the technology means they struggle to protect their services from such disruptions.
Gateway’s Director of Online Education made a brief tutorial on how to protect your church or small group from Zoom Bombers. To view her tutorial, click on the link below.
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“If you don’t advertise how to get onto the meeting it becomes much harder for people to join the meeting in the first place,” wrote David Sim, a trainee minister with the Church of Scotland who created a
guide
to preventing Zoombombing. “That may be counter-intuitive where we want to welcome all, so it may not be possible in every case – for example for our public worship where we want everyone to join. However, if you are having a business meeting, a Messy Church or a small prayer meeting, you can share joining details by email or text on a need to know basis.”
Merritt, who began researching ways to protect his students as he moved to distance learning, recommended that administrators disable screen sharing and annotations during meetings. Otherwise, any participant who joins the meeting can share the contents of their own screen or draw anything onto the shared screen.
He also urged houses of worship to enable Zoom’s waiting room feature so the host can approve folks to join the meeting and be ready to boot any unknown users out of the meeting.
And don’t forget to pray for those who harassed you, Merritt said.
While his own group was too harried by the intrusion to do so together, he said, “it seems like the obvious, Christian thing to do in retrospect!”
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Maundy Thursday is the Thursday in Holy Week. It is part of the Triduum, or three holy days before Easter. It comes from the Latin mandatum novum, "new commandment," from Jn 13:34. The ceremony of washing feet was also referred to as "the Maundy." Maundy Thursday celebrations also commemorate the institution of the eucharist by Jesus "on the night he was betrayed." Egeria, a fourth-century pilgrim to Jerusalem, describes elaborate celebrations and observances in that city on Maundy Thursday. Special celebration of the institution of the eucharist on Maundy Thursday is attested by the Council of Hippo in 381. The Prayer Book liturgy for Maundy Thursday provides for celebration of the eucharist and a ceremony of the washing of feet which follows the gospel and homily. There is also provision for the consecration of the bread and wine for administering Holy Communion from the reserved sacrament on Good Friday. Following this, the altar is stripped and all decorative furnishings are removed from the church. See Eucharist; see Foot Washing.
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IN BRIEF . . .
These news briefs were featured in previous issues of "The Epistle"
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