WHAT IS IT?
We remember the Crucifixion of Jesus. Worship across Friday, Saturday, and Sunday form the Easter Triduum, a three-day long liturgy marking in turn the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE IT?
We reflect on how God embraced suffering and death for us and for our salvation. We comes to terms with the total depravity of the human heart and the depth of love God has demonstrated in redeeming it.

A PENSIVE CELEBRATION
Because it is part of a larger liturgy that climaxes with the joy of Easter, Good Friday services are sombre and penitential in nature. Despite knowing that the victory is already won, we linger in deeper reflection on how God’s generous grace that has saved us from our sin.

WHAT DO WE DO?
No vestments adorn the Sanctuary, and the pastors are dressed simply with no stoles or pectoral crosses. The cross is partially veiled, drawing attention to this holy mystery. A crown of thorns is hung on the cross as a visible reminder of the price Jesus paid. The liturgy continues through Saturday and Sunday, and so the people depart in meditative silence with no benediction pronounced.

No liturgical colours are used, because the Sanctuary is stripped

A large standing wooden cross is used instead of the brass altar cross.

RE-ENACTING THE CRUCIFIXION
Christians re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus in many ways. Most commonly the Crucifixion is read and preached from the Gospels. The Tre Ore is a worship service based on the seven last words of Jesus on the cross. The Stations of the Cross is a devotional tool that guides us in walking with Jesus to the cross.

REFERENCES

J. Neil Alexander, Celebrating Liturgical Time: Days, Weeks, and Seasons, 2014.
Jeffrey A. Truscott, Worship: A Practical Guide (Singapore: Armour Publishing, 2011).
United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Book of Worship. Nashville, TN: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1992.