Holy Week Resource Guide
This list of Holy Week resources—art, music, devotions, liturgies, books, and sermons—will help you plan worship for Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Triduum, the three days that mark Jesus’ trial, death, and resurrection, from the evening of Maundy Thursday through Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter morning.
Upside Down Sunset by Daniel Bonnell
Worship During Holy Week
The week begins with Passion/Palm Sunday and ends with the “three days” (also called the Triduum, from sunset on Thursday to sunset on Easter Day) which mark Jesus’ trial, death, and resurrection. These days feature not only the drama of the triumphal entry, trial, last supper, and crucifixion but also poignant prayers and prophetic teachings of our Lord. John’s gospel devotes eight of its twenty-one chapters to this week alone! Worship throughout Holy Week invites the congregation to think of themselves as participants in a dramatic reenactment of scriptural events. Thus, children may be invited to process while shouting “Hosanna!” Or, in the reading of the passion narrative, the entire congregation may be invited to speak the words, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (certainly one of the most unsettling actions in any worship service). These help the congregation sense the significance of the narratives for what they teach us about Jesus’ ministry, about God’s being and character, and about the nature and scope of redemption in Christ. (adapted from The Worship Sourcebook)
Planning Resources
- Singing the Story: Hymns for Holy Week
- A Palm Sunday Service: Fumbles in the Garden, Matthew 26
- Were You There When He Rode into Town?
- Psalm 23, Matthew 9 for Palm/Passion Sunday
- In the Upper Room with Christ - Psalm 116
- Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Services Notes
- Psalm 22 for Maundy Thursday or Good Friday
- Tenebrae: A Service of Shadows - planning guide
- Tenebrae: A Service of Worship for Good Friday
- Tenebrae Worship Video
- An Easter Vigil
- Easter Resource Guide
Song Resources
- Songs for Holy Week
- Songs for Lent
- Resources from Hymnary Lectionary
- Top Ten Songs for Lent
- Meditations on Lenten Hymns
Visual Arts Resources
Meditations and Devotions
- The Radiant Preciousness of Jesus Series, a series of meditations by Dale Cooper
- "So Marred, So Beautiful," a Lenten devotion by Dale Cooper
- Seeking God's Face by Philip F. Reinders (Faith Alive Christian Resources)
- Books for Lent
- Short Story for Lent by James Schaap
- The Journey to Jerusalem: Devotions for Lent by MaraJoy Norden
- Fasting: A cross-cultural perspective on the season of Lent by Eric Sarwar
Featured Resources
The Worship Sourcebook
- Parts K through N of The Worship Sourcebook Second Edition, pp. 587-660, offer sample prayers and other worship resources for each act of worship during Holy Week and Easter, including the Call to Worship, Opening Responses, Confession and Assurance, Prayers for Illumination, the Lord's Supper, and Blessing/Benediction.
Reformed Worship magazine
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Browse all Holy Week resources for worship from our ministry partner, Reformed Worship magazine.