Excerpt from Worship Resources for Christian Congregations
by C. Welton Gaddy and Don W. Nixon

The Thursday of Holy Week--Maundy Thursday--takes its name from the Latin Dies Mandati, The Day of the Commandment, referring to Jesus' commandment for disciples to love one another (John 13:34). On this evening, Christians recall the events that transpired between Jesus and his disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem on the eve of his crucifixion.

Historically, Maundy Thursday worship has involved four major liturgical activities. First, and primary, worshipers remembered the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples by breaking the bread and drinking the wine of Christian communion together. Second, church leaders and wealthy men washed the feet of other worshipers, imitating the humility displayed by Jesus as he washed the feet of his disciples. Third, money, food, and clothing were collected by worship leaders to give to the poor. And, fourth, worshipers stripped the main altar in the worship center of all fabrics, furniture, and flowers. These items were then washed. No decorations were appropriate on the following day, which was Good Friday.

In the Roman tradition, other ceremonies have persisted through the years. Some of the traditional, liturgical activities have not survived in the free church tradition, although in some church the rite of footwashing is receiving renewed attention.

Sights
Simplicity is the order of the hour in worship on Maundy Thursday. Inside the sanctuary, a quiet, meditative environment is created by overlapping the burlap base paraments of the Lenten season with cloths and fabrics of purple. These traditional penitential interpretation suggest something new without altering the traditional penitential interpretation of the day.

All fabrics should reflect the preferred liturgical color for Maundy Thursday, which is scarlet, or dark red suggesting the blood of Christ. If ant ornamentation or symbols appear on the fabric, they should be done in black thread and not gold, which is used at other times.

A banner constructed on the theme of "Instruments of the Passion" can be used appropriately on both Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, or from Monday through Saturday of Holy Week. Such a banner provides a visual interpretation of the entire week for viewers, which includes items associated with the trial, mockery, scourging, death, and burial of Jesus. Since all of the symbols of the passion of Jesus seldom appear together, the banner can have an especially dramatic impact on worshipers.

Because of the emotional heaviness of Holy Week, a banner on the passion of Jesus may be more effective if symbols—done in purple or maroon and accented in black—appear on a background of violet. The drabness and darkness of the banner convey the oppressive nature of this spiritual season.

Though no flowers should grace the altar, large arrangements of natural bearded wheat and a mound of grapes can be placed in urns set on both sides of the communion table. These raw materials provide great images of how common elements have come to possess profound spiritual meaning within the Christian faith.

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