Maundy Thursday Contemplative
April 2, 2026
*Please stand in body or in spirit. Congregational responses are in bold and preceded by "All"
GATHERING
Welcome and Announcements
Invitation and Sharing of Peace
Peace be with you. And also with you.
Prelude Lead Me to Calvary (Sennett / Kirkpatrick) Piano
Lighting of the Altar Candles
Call to Worship (Clergy Stuff)
LEADER: We gather in sorrow to hear his last words.
ALL: We gather with humble hearts, O God.
LEADER: Open our ears to his words.
ALL: Open our hearts to his pain.
LEADER: Open our minds to his reality-transforming sacrifice.
ALL: Have mercy on us, O God.
Opening Prayer (Clergy Stuff)
ALL: God of grace and mercy,
On this day, you gave us a new commandment—that we love one another as you have loved us. Help us to see the depth and breadth of this love, and strengthen us to carry even the small fraction of it we are able to carry into our suffering world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
*Opening Song Jesu, Jesu UMH 432
Refrain
Jesu, Jesu,
fill us with your love,
show us how to serve
the neighbors
we have from you.
- Kneels at the
feet of his friends,
silently washes
their feet,
Master who acts
as a slave to them.
Refrain
Jesu, Jesu,
fill us with your love,
show us how to serve
the neighbors
we have from you.
- Neighbors are
rich and poor,
neighbors are
black and white,
neighbors are
near and far away.
Refrain
Jesu, Jesu,
fill us with your love,
show us how to serve
the neighbors
we have from you.
- These are the ones
we should serve,
these are the ones
we should love;
all these are neighbors
to us and you.
Refrain
Jesu, Jesu,
fill us with your love,
show us how to serve
the neighbors
we have from you.
- Loving puts us
on our knees,
serving as though
we are slaves,
this is the way
we should live with you.
Refrain
Jesu, Jesu,
fill us with your love,
show us how to serve
the neighbors
we have from you.
- Kneel at the
feet of our friends,
silently washing
their feet,
this is the way
we should live with you.
Refrain
Jesu, Jesu,
fill us with your love,
show us how to serve
the neighbors
we have from you.
LISTENING
Scripture Reading John 13:1-2a, 31-35
Musical Interlude
Scripture Reading John 14:15-31
Musical Interlude
Scripture Reading John 15:1-17
Musical Interlude
RESPONDING
*Responding Song Ah, Holy Jesus UMH 289
1. Ah, holy Jesus,
how hast thou offended,
that we to judge thee
have in hate pretended?
By foes derided,
by thine own rejected,
O most afflicted!
2. Who was the guilty?
Who brought this
upon thee?
Alas, my treason,
Jesus, hath undone thee!
’Twas I,
Lord Jesus,
I it was denied thee;
I crucified thee.
3. Lo, the Good Shepherd
for the sheep is offered;
the slave hath sinned,
and the Son hath suffered.
For our atonement,
while we
nothing heeded,
God interceded.
4. For me, kind Jesus,
was thy incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow,
and thy life’s oblation;
thy death
of anguish
and thy bitter passion,
for my salvation.
5. Therefore, kind Jesus,
since I cannot
pay thee,
I do adore thee,
and will ever pray thee,
think on thy pity
and thy love
unswerving,
not my deserving.
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Prayers of the People |
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God of mercy and grace, we lift our prayers to you.
Confession and Forgiveness
Pastor: We confess our sins before God and one another.
Pause for silence and reflection.
ALL: Most holy God,
We come to you in need of grace. Time and again we have forgotten your simple and loving call—to love you, our neighbors, and ourselves. We have forgotten your promise to care for us, and in our fear, we have made choices that hurt us, those around us, and even those we don’t know. Remind us who we are and whose we are, and show us the way to amend our wrongs, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our savior and friend.
Pastor: Have no fear, little flock, for God loves you exactly as you are, and desires nothing more than to restore you to wholeness. Know that you are freed from sin and death now and forever. Amen.
Communion Response UMH 13-15
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks
to the Lord our God.
It is right to give
our thanks and praise.
It is right, and a good and joyful thing …
… And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy Lord;
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,…
… All honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and for ever.
Amen, amen, amen
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Breaking of Bread and Invitation
All are welcome to come forward to receive communion.
We are serving bread and individual juice cups
or prepackaged bread and juice.
Gluten free is also available.
The ushers will invite you forward.
SENDING
Closing Reading John 18:1-11
Closing Song Go to Dark Gethsemane UMH 290
- Go to dark
Gethsemane,
ye that feel
the tempter’s power;
your Redeemer’s
conflict see,
watch with him
one bitter hour.
Turn not from
his griefs away;
learn of Jesus
Christ to pray.
- See him at
the judgment hall,
beaten, bound,
reviled, arraigned;
O the wormwood
and the gall!
O the pangs
his soul sustained!
Shun not suffering,
shame, or loss;
learn of Christ
to bear the cross.
- Calvary’s mournful
mountain climb;
there, adoring
at his feet,
mark that miracle
of time,
God’s own
sacrifice complete.
“It is finished!”
hear him cry;
learn of Jesus
Christ to die.
- Early hasten
to the tomb
where they laid
his breathless clay;
all is solitude
and gloom.
Who has taken
him away?
Christ is risen!
He meets our eyes;
Savior, teach
us so to rise.
Stripping of the Altar
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