When the Episcopalian rector moved in next door and talked about
“nearly burning down the church” with the Easter vigil fire, he had my
attention. Shortly thereafter I attended
my first Easter vigil. I loved it! It began with the big fire outside from which
the Christ candle was lit. Then inside
the darkly candlelit sanctuary we heard, sang and prayed our way through the
Bible recalling salvation history. When
we got to Jesus’ resurrection, all the lights were turned on revealing a flower-filled
church and worshipers rang bells they brought from home while singing an Easter
hymn. That was followed by recalling
baptism with water being flung over us all, a short Easter sermon and the
Eucharist. After the service there was a fellowship hour
with all sorts of Easter treats.
I have since learned that this is both a loved and dreaded (because it
can run long) service in many Christian
traditions. Seeing the whole service
with fresh eyes, it, or parts of it,
seem to me to offer several wonderful ways to include children in the
celebration of Easter. Realizing that I
am the Easter vigil newbie and that many of you have life-long experience with
this service, I offer the following ideas and hope you will either correct me
or add more ideas.
Fire,
candles, bells, water, bread and cup offer lots of sensory input for
children. Though sunrise is still
probably the best time for children to experience the Easter story, this vigil on Saturday just after dark has advantages. For starters it is not a school day. So, families who might pass on Maundy
Thursday or Good Friday services, are more able to attend. Neither is it so very early in the morning
requiring prying children from sleep. If the service is planned with the presence of
children in mind it is a good opportunity to rehearse the whole Easter story
with them in a vivid way.
The lectionary readings are rather long and could be pared to the
essentials. Some of them could be read
from children’s Bible story books. One
source hinted at presenting the readings in a variety of formats (dialogs,
pantomimes, skits, etc.) rather than a series of straight readings. It would also be possible to create (or have
children create in advance) a story pole or banner to process in with each
reading slowly collecting a timeline across the front of the sanctuary.
Liturgical
tradition dictates 7 specific texts that trace salvation history through the
Old Testament. But, I am wondering about
some years focusing on telling the story of Jesus from Annunciation through
Resurrection instead.
The Paschal candle is in its element at the
evening vigil. (Candles simply do not
make much of a statement in a sanctuary filled with morning light.) At dusk, a huge Christ candle is lit from the
bonfire. Worshipers follow it into the
darkened sanctuary and light their individual candles from it. My mother who grew up in the Orthodox Church
remembers following the Paschal candle around the outside of the church three
times in the dark to recall Jesus’ three days in the tomb before entering the
Easter sanctuary. The candle is placed beside the baptismal
font. In some countries, worshipers
carry light from the Christ candle home to light smaller Christ candles in
their homes.
Families
display a Christ candle in their home
for the entire Easter season. This
pillar candle may be set in a bowl with fresh flowers or surrounded by other
Easter symbols. The church might provide
an Easter devotional book (like the Advent devotional books many provide). Once I have looked at the Easter readings,
I’ll post a list of scripture readings that could become a bookmark to be sent
home with families on Easter. Or,
families may simply light the candle once each day before a meal with one
person saying “Christ is risen!” and the rest of the family replying “Christ is
risen indeed!”
A
simple white pillar candle may serve at home.
But families may use a nail to carve a cross in the side of the candle,
inscribe the date of the year around the cross, alpha above the cross and omega
below it. Some may stick 5 cloves in the cross to recall Christ’s wounds. (I am wondering about saving the Christ
candle from the Advent wreath to carve and light during Easter.) Crosses in which these figures are painted in
wax are also available commercially.
Though
the Paschal candle is the star of the Easter vigil, it is often part of Easter
morning worship and can be offered to Easter morning worshipers for worship at
home.
Why
aren’t there more bells in Easter
celebrations?! The Episcopalians brought
jingle bells, silver dinner bells, even cow bells to ring constantly as we sang
the first Easter hymn. I had the sense
some worshipers had searched out the bells for this purpose and rang the same
one with relish every year. I even
wonder if it would be appropriate to ring the steeple bell, if your church has
one, during this hymn.
The following conversation is from Comments about the Easter Vigil in an earlier post.
Nicole VanderMeulenMarch 7, 2013 at 2:02 PM
We have a contemporary "in-between times" worship on Easter Eve, filled with blues and jazz music and a sermon that is very meaningful for adults. This year I want to add "something for kids". I want to focus on the darkness and uncertainty of the night, without focusing on fear or being scary. I've thought of a glow in the dark Easter egg hunt, sharing story in a cardboard, battery candle lit tomb, something with a fire (s'more's?) candles. Maybe we will join part of worship and then move to our own space. Any ideas to help enhance, solidify, my Holy Saturday plans would be appreciated!
ReplyDelete
Nicole, what about instead of a cardboard tomb finding the most remote-feeling room in the church and going there, closing the door and turning out the lights (keep the battery candles or lanterns)- just like the disciples did after Jesus was killed. For children the darkness of Saturday night is less about fear and more about the sadness of Jesus being dead forever, or so the disciples thought then. So tell the stories of Holy Week, make up sad prayers and draw sad pictures with only black crayons. If the adult service announces the empty tomb, do so in your upper room service,then bust out for some games outside - maybe glow in the dark sticks to dance with. If the adult service will end on a more somber tone, plan a way to look ahead to Easter morning. (Especially young children can be overwhelmed if they think the story stops here - and some may not show up on Sunday morning to hear the ending.) To keep somber adults and children in somewhat the same place as they leave church, make the glow in the dark egg hunt a quiet hunt - only whispers - because you know the surprise that will come tomorrow, but it has to wait 'til then. Who else has something to add?