Maundy Limbo

Our Maundy Thursday service is so simple that it requires a great deal of preparation. We set up the chapel with a table set for the participants. They come to that table for the bread and juice as though they were gathering for a meal, which they are. We read passages from the Hebrew scriptures and New Testament which remind us of God's story of deliverance. I wash the feet some of those present. It doesn't sound complicated but there is a lot of setting up, a lot of recruiting participants.

We are prepared, but we're experiencing a blast (last gasp?) of Winter weather across Southern Ontario and the freezing rain as the day progresses sounds ominous. In all the years --decades-- I've being presiding at Maundy Thursday services I've never cancelled due to weather. And I find this worship gathering very meaningful, as have so many who've attended. But there is a first time for everything.

Have you attended Maundy Thursday services in your church? Do you remember when we had no idea what a Maundy Thursday service was in our Protestant congregations? Is this an important addition to our liturgical cycle?