April 2~8, 2012
Headline News
Churches in Changhua mark Passion Week with daily services
Reported by Chen Wei-chien
Written by Lydia Ma
In recent years, more and more churches are arranging daily services on Passion week to encourage Christians to take time out from their busy schedules to remember Christ’s suffering and resurrection. An example of such a church is Changhua Presbyterian Church, which is offering an hour-long silent prayer service from 12:00-13:00 and a communion service at 19:30 every day throughout this year’s Easter week (April 2-7, 2012), in addition to a Good Friday candlelight service.
Changhua Church has been scheduling daily services on Easter week in the past 6 years. According to the church’s pastor, Rev. Lee Chih-jen, “The goal of these services is to incorporate Jesus’ suffering into the faith and life of the congregation so that people may grow in spiritual maturity.” To inspire his flock, Lee has devised a theme for every service throughout Holy Week.
Taking this year’s services as example, Lee said that on Holy Monday, the congregation kneels in front of the communion table to receive communion. On Holy Tuesday, the pastor and the elders break bread and distribute it to the congregation. On Holy Wednesday, the traditional bread and wine is replaced by local equivalents such as yam and millet wine. On Maundy Thursday, the pastor performs a foot washing ceremony for the congregation. Finally, during Good Friday’s candlelight service, every participant lights a candle and places it beside the lectern during the service. At th end of the service, participants blow out a candle to signify that they have been crucified with Christ on the cross.
The noontime silent prayer service at Changhua Church invites participants to take a short break from their work and come to church to read, meditate, and pray on a Bible passage selected by the church on that day. “We do this to encourage our congregation to make church the center of their lives. We hope that they can draw near to God despite their busy work schedule – even if it’s only for 5 or 10 minutes,” Lee said.
Similarly, Huatan Presbyterian Church in Changhua holds evening prayer services from Holy Monday to Maundy Thursday to remember the passion and suffering of Jesus and joins Changhua Presbytery in a Good Friday service. “Jesus’ suffering is still occurring in many parts of the world today,” said Huatan Church’s pastor, Rev. Chao Ling-chi. “That is the reason why we pray for different ethnic groups every day and we also pray for the homeless people that come to our church.” She added that about 10 homeless people regularly attend her church’s Sunday worship right now.
