I was intrigued by the site of the Fellowshhip of Liturgical Musicians that Tim Sharpe pointed me to. It will be interesting to see what resources they eventually have .

More and more my wife and I find ourselves drawn to the richness and timelessness of liturgy. Though our present church has a fairly “contemporary” feel to it, we have been able to introduce some liturgical elements without killing anyone.

And this time of year, we look forward to our annual pilgrimage to All Saints Anglican Church here in Charlottesville for the Maundy Thursday service.

At the end of the service the lights are lowered, and as low, somewhat mournful music plays, the officiants “strip the altar.” This involves removing every decorative element from the altar and surrounding area in the front of the church. The altar cloth, the crosses, the furniture, everything is taken away but the bare altar. Then they bring out thorn bushes. A simple dismissal is given. The church remains open for prayer vigil through the night.

It’s hard to explain, but this service moves me deeply each year concerning the passion of our Lord. It does so much more effectively for me than the shock-wave of Mel Gibson’s movie. In those quiet moments, I’m somehow in the garden with Jesus, fighting to watch and pray. As every trace of beauty is stripped away, I feel the cold aloneness of not only his final evening but his bearing of my sin the next day.

And because I know the end of the story, I leave that night with an anticipation of the Sunday to come that rivals my childhood longing for Christmas morning. Maranatha.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 29th, 2004 at 9:22 pm and is filed under Christian Community, Randomness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.