First Presbyterian Church of Lancaster, South Carolina

On Maundy Thursday, (March 20, 2008), we met in the Fellowship Hall at 6:00 p.m. to celebrate Holy Communion in the context of a modified Jewish Passover meal, called the Seder.

It was during Passover, as Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Seder together, that Jesus mandated the sharing of the bread and cup in remembrance of him. After the meal, Jesus went out into the Garden of Gethsemane, where he was arrested and taken into custody.  The next day he was crucified.

After we finished the Seder meal, we journeyed into the sanctuary at 7:15 p.m. for a Tenebrae Service (a Service of shadows or darkness), during which time we remembered the seven last phrases spoken by Jesus while on the cross.

The word "tenebrae" is Latin for shadows. The purpose of the Tenebrae Service is to recreate the emotional aspects of the passion story. Its distinctive feature is the gradual extinction of all lights in the church as we contemplate the moment when it seemed that the powers of darkness had triumphed over the "Light of the World." There was no benediction and we left the service in darkness and silence.