Planning for Easter Sunday raises a strategic question: should this service look and feel bigger and more energetic, or should it resemble the regular rhythm of worship? Both approaches have advantages and downsides. Because Easter is often the highest-attended Sunday of the year, how leaders answer this question shapes not only the experience of that day, but also what first-time and returning guests assume about the life of the church.
Webinar Shares Tips on Welcoming Easter Guests
More often than not, Episcopal churches fill their pews on Easter morning with guests, occasional worshipers, and out-of-town visitors. The real question is, however, What happens on Monday morning? How can Episcopal churches create an environment of welcome and belonging before, during, and after the big Sunday event?
Palm Sunday: the triumphal entry and its meaning for us today Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most sacred week in the Christian calendar. It is the day we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when crowds welcomed Him with palm branches and laid their cloaks on the road before Him, crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 21:8-9).
It was a moment of celebration, honour and public recognition. Yet it was also a moment filled with deep spiritual meaning, because this King was unlike any other the world had ever seen. Palm Sunday reveals that Jesus is the King who comes in humility before He reigns in glory.
The backstory to Palm Sunday most evangelicals miss
29 March is Palm Sunday, or the sixth Sunday in Lent, which kicks off Holy Week. The events of this day echo a historical episode from Jewish history which most evangelicals miss. This is the story....
Iraqi Christians told to cancel Palm Sunday and Easter celebrations
Iraqi Christians are asking Christians around the world to remember them in prayer.
Israel stops cardinal entering holiest Christian site 'for first time in centuries'
Israeli police prevented a top Vatican cardinal from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Palm Sunday mass for the first time in centuries.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, was blocked from entering the holiest site in Christianity.
Christians voice 'grave concern' after UN inquiry finds Ukrainian children were deported and forcibly transferred
The World Council of Churches has expressed “grave concern” after a United Nations commission concluded that Russian authorities have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes by deporting and forcibly relocating Ukrainian children.
In a statement responding to the findings, WCC general secretary Rev Prof Dr Jerry Pillay said the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine “confront[s] the conscience of the whole international community”.
Is there a Catholic revival? Pope Leo seems to think so.
As 70 new catechumens are preparing for baptism in the tiny country, Pope Leo pointed to a growing — if uneven — interest in Catholicism among young people across Europe and beyond.
Roman Catholic Churches See a Surge of New Converts
Bishops are trying to understand what’s behind the wave. People joining the church described their reasons as highly personal.
Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday rejected claims that God justifies war and prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.
Asian evangelical leaders discuss pastoral response to homosexuality through lens of shame culture, discipleship
Leaders from across Asia recently convened for a webinar organized by the Asia Evangelical Alliance to address one of the most sensitive issues facing churches in the region: how to respond biblically and pastorally to homosexuality.
'Our church bells may fall silent after VAT change'
Campaigners in a North Yorkshire village have raised concerns that their 13th Century church bells may ring for the last time following a change in VAT rules.
The Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers: radical Christians in the deserts of Late Antiquity
The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds Christians that they are surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses” (NRSV). That “cloud” has continued to grow in size since then. In this monthly column we will be thinking about some of the people and events, over the past 2000 years, that have helped make up this “cloud.” People and events that have helped build the community of the Christian Church as it exists today.
God’s Yes, No, or Not Yet
This God who is all-wise, all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-purposeful, hears our every prayer and responds to each one in the most appropriate way.
Can We Blame the Nones for America's Marriage Crisis?
In 1972, 85% of Americans had been married. Today it's 70%. Here's what's really driving the decline.
How to write an obituary
Think of an obituary as having five movements.
Writing an obituary can be a joyous task because it is something productive to do in a time of grief.
Roman Catholic Churches See a Surge of New Converts
Bishops are trying to understand what’s behind the wave. People joining the church described their reasons as highly personal.
Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday rejected claims that God justifies war and prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.
Asian evangelical leaders discuss pastoral response to homosexuality through lens of shame culture, discipleship
Leaders from across Asia recently convened for a webinar organized by the Asia Evangelical Alliance to address one of the most sensitive issues facing churches in the region: how to respond biblically and pastorally to homosexuality.
'Our church bells may fall silent after VAT change'
Campaigners in a North Yorkshire village have raised concerns that their 13th Century church bells may ring for the last time following a change in VAT rules.
The Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers: radical Christians in the deserts of Late Antiquity
The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds Christians that they are surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses” (NRSV). That “cloud” has continued to grow in size since then. In this monthly column we will be thinking about some of the people and events, over the past 2000 years, that have helped make up this “cloud.” People and events that have helped build the community of the Christian Church as it exists today.
God’s Yes, No, or Not Yet
This God who is all-wise, all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-purposeful, hears our every prayer and responds to each one in the most appropriate way.
Can We Blame the Nones for America's Marriage Crisis?
In 1972, 85% of Americans had been married. Today it's 70%. Here's what's really driving the decline.
How to write an obituary
Think of an obituary as having five movements.
Writing an obituary can be a joyous task because it is something productive to do in a time of grief.
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