Easter Day
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series III, Cycle A
Greeting
(each set is increasingly louder)
P: He is risen.
C: He is risen, indeed.
P: He is risen.
C: He is risen, indeed.
P: He is risen!
C: He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Prayer Of The Day
P: Gracious Father, on this day of all days, when your love has conquered all, we lift our hearts to you in hope that such joy might know no end, through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
Post-Communion Prayer
A: Almighty God, all thanks and praise to you, the author and giver of all life. As you have fed us with your love, so now send us out as vessels of your mercy, that your church would bear witness to your eternal goodness until that great day comes when your glory is revealed for all the world to see. We pray in the name of Christ our Lord.
C: Amen.
Benediction
A: Risen, risen, risen from the dead,
C: risen, risen, risen to new life,
P: may Jesus, the Christ, call you to worlds yet unimagined --
where with the saints who have gone before you
and with those yet to come,
you may know only his joy.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Hymns And Songs
Christ Is Risen! Alleluia! -- LBW 131
The Strife Is O'er, The Battle Done -- LBW 135; UMH 306; MBW 361; G&P 384
Christ Is Arisen -- LBW 136
Hail Thee, Festival Day! -- LBW 142; UMH 324; PH 120
Jesus Christ Is Risen Today -- LBW 151; MBW 358; G&P 378
Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia -- WOV 678
Low In The Grave He Lay -- TFF 94; UMH 322
Cristo Vive -- UMH 313; PH 109
Christ the Lord Is Risen -- GATHER 315
Psalm Settings
The Lord Is My Strength -- TFF 15
Psalm 118: Alleluia, Alleluia -- GATHER 101
Sing To The Mountains -- GATHER 313
Psalm 118: This Is The Day -- G&P 261
Choral Music
"Alleluia" -- Randall Thompson
"An Easter Introit" -- Melchoir Vulpuis, C. A. Alington, arr. Hal Hopson (H. W. Gray Publishers)
"Christ Is Risen! Let All the Earth Adore Him" -- Lloyd Larson, Mary Kay Beall (Providence Press)
"Christ The Lord Is Ris'n Again" -- Michael Burghardt (Morning Star Music)
"Gospel Fanfare For Easter Morning" -- James Biery (GIA)
"In The Fair Morning" -- mark Sedio (Art Masters Studio)
"This Very Morning" -- Rory Cooney (GIA)
Liturgical Dance
Dancers, dressed in white, can flow around the processional cross. Holding rolled white ribbons trimmed in gold, when they reach the chancel they can move out from the cross in all directions, unleashing their ribbons: The risen Christ is filling the church as the linens are being unwrapped.
Children can follow the dancers in the procession, waving small white "Alleluia" banners. White with gold trim, they can wave them whenever an "Alleluia" is sung.
Service Notes
This is the day for brass and timpani (if your budget allows!). It is the day for singing as rich as the colors of the spectrum. It is a day of juxtapositions, for death and life have been reversed. Use a modern liturgy with ancient hymns or vice versa. Let some particular sound and some particular sight stand out from the rest. It is not that you have to do something new, but it is a day to do whatever you do well and with great attention to detail.
Liturgical Art And Community Activities For The Easter Season And The Day of Pentecost
As the season progresses, have your arts committee sponsor a few Sunday school sessions where the scripture lessons (Thomas, Emmaus, and the Ascension) are read slowly twice in lectio divina style, followed each time by members stating words or phrases, repeating part of the reading or giving new interpretations. Then, with art materials provided (paints, paper, pastes, tissue paper, collage, and natural materials), participants create their visual responses to the scripture with abstract or realistic colors and shapes.
(illustrations in book)
On Good Shepherd Sunday (Easter 4), or the Sunday nearest Earth Day, the teenagers and older children might create masks to represent different animals, plants, and elements to focus on our care of the earth. As Christ takes care of us as the good shepherd, we have been given dominion to care for the creation around us. A small rock, seashell, or piece of wood may be circulated through the pews as a reminder.
In early May, the Rogation Days can be celebrated by the blessing of seedtime and planting. On a clean, clear surface in the narthex different kinds of seed may be scattered. Members can be invited to move their fingers in them and consider the life that is in them, although they appear to be dead. The Sunday school children can later plant these seeds. Members may also be invited to bring seeds from their own gardens for such a blessing.
(illustrations in book)
With Pentecost's flame, the compassion of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, begins its spread to the four corners of the earth. A Pentecost banner can be created by tracing members' hands (fingers together) on red felt. These cut-out "tongues of fire" can be finished off with an inner flame of bright African cloth, then sewn to a length of white gauze. Members will be surprised, happy, and filled with expectation as you trace their hand on the red felt during coffee hour, several weeks before the banner is to be hung. Then your banner makers can create the head and arms of Christ with gathered cloth.
(each set is increasingly louder)
P: He is risen.
C: He is risen, indeed.
P: He is risen.
C: He is risen, indeed.
P: He is risen!
C: He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Prayer Of The Day
P: Gracious Father, on this day of all days, when your love has conquered all, we lift our hearts to you in hope that such joy might know no end, through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
Post-Communion Prayer
A: Almighty God, all thanks and praise to you, the author and giver of all life. As you have fed us with your love, so now send us out as vessels of your mercy, that your church would bear witness to your eternal goodness until that great day comes when your glory is revealed for all the world to see. We pray in the name of Christ our Lord.
C: Amen.
Benediction
A: Risen, risen, risen from the dead,
C: risen, risen, risen to new life,
P: may Jesus, the Christ, call you to worlds yet unimagined --
where with the saints who have gone before you
and with those yet to come,
you may know only his joy.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Hymns And Songs
Christ Is Risen! Alleluia! -- LBW 131
The Strife Is O'er, The Battle Done -- LBW 135; UMH 306; MBW 361; G&P 384
Christ Is Arisen -- LBW 136
Hail Thee, Festival Day! -- LBW 142; UMH 324; PH 120
Jesus Christ Is Risen Today -- LBW 151; MBW 358; G&P 378
Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia -- WOV 678
Low In The Grave He Lay -- TFF 94; UMH 322
Cristo Vive -- UMH 313; PH 109
Christ the Lord Is Risen -- GATHER 315
Psalm Settings
The Lord Is My Strength -- TFF 15
Psalm 118: Alleluia, Alleluia -- GATHER 101
Sing To The Mountains -- GATHER 313
Psalm 118: This Is The Day -- G&P 261
Choral Music
"Alleluia" -- Randall Thompson
"An Easter Introit" -- Melchoir Vulpuis, C. A. Alington, arr. Hal Hopson (H. W. Gray Publishers)
"Christ Is Risen! Let All the Earth Adore Him" -- Lloyd Larson, Mary Kay Beall (Providence Press)
"Christ The Lord Is Ris'n Again" -- Michael Burghardt (Morning Star Music)
"Gospel Fanfare For Easter Morning" -- James Biery (GIA)
"In The Fair Morning" -- mark Sedio (Art Masters Studio)
"This Very Morning" -- Rory Cooney (GIA)
Liturgical Dance
Dancers, dressed in white, can flow around the processional cross. Holding rolled white ribbons trimmed in gold, when they reach the chancel they can move out from the cross in all directions, unleashing their ribbons: The risen Christ is filling the church as the linens are being unwrapped.
Children can follow the dancers in the procession, waving small white "Alleluia" banners. White with gold trim, they can wave them whenever an "Alleluia" is sung.
Service Notes
This is the day for brass and timpani (if your budget allows!). It is the day for singing as rich as the colors of the spectrum. It is a day of juxtapositions, for death and life have been reversed. Use a modern liturgy with ancient hymns or vice versa. Let some particular sound and some particular sight stand out from the rest. It is not that you have to do something new, but it is a day to do whatever you do well and with great attention to detail.
Liturgical Art And Community Activities For The Easter Season And The Day of Pentecost
As the season progresses, have your arts committee sponsor a few Sunday school sessions where the scripture lessons (Thomas, Emmaus, and the Ascension) are read slowly twice in lectio divina style, followed each time by members stating words or phrases, repeating part of the reading or giving new interpretations. Then, with art materials provided (paints, paper, pastes, tissue paper, collage, and natural materials), participants create their visual responses to the scripture with abstract or realistic colors and shapes.
(illustrations in book)
On Good Shepherd Sunday (Easter 4), or the Sunday nearest Earth Day, the teenagers and older children might create masks to represent different animals, plants, and elements to focus on our care of the earth. As Christ takes care of us as the good shepherd, we have been given dominion to care for the creation around us. A small rock, seashell, or piece of wood may be circulated through the pews as a reminder.
In early May, the Rogation Days can be celebrated by the blessing of seedtime and planting. On a clean, clear surface in the narthex different kinds of seed may be scattered. Members can be invited to move their fingers in them and consider the life that is in them, although they appear to be dead. The Sunday school children can later plant these seeds. Members may also be invited to bring seeds from their own gardens for such a blessing.
(illustrations in book)
With Pentecost's flame, the compassion of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, begins its spread to the four corners of the earth. A Pentecost banner can be created by tracing members' hands (fingers together) on red felt. These cut-out "tongues of fire" can be finished off with an inner flame of bright African cloth, then sewn to a length of white gauze. Members will be surprised, happy, and filled with expectation as you trace their hand on the red felt during coffee hour, several weeks before the banner is to be hung. Then your banner makers can create the head and arms of Christ with gathered cloth.
