Death in the midst of life: Redefining a Holy Saturday worship service

It is common to face the challenge of dealing with the loss of a loved one at some point in our lives. One way to find healing from grief and loss is through liturgy such as memorial/funeral or healing services. Another opportunity for healing is to take part in a Holy Saturday service during Easter Week and focus on the grief and despair of the disciples at the loss of Jesus. In the process of experiencing some of the disciple's grief, participants in the worship service are encouraged to come to grips with some of the anguish and pain of death deep within their own souls. A new Holy Saturday service has been designed to provide the opportunity to worship in a new way on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This new Holy Saturday service is not an Easter Vigil as it does not end in the celebration of resurrection, but instead postpones resurrection until Easter morning. The mood of the service empowers worshipers to mourn their own losses in a one-hour liturgical setting. This service was tested on two United Methodist churches in 2001 through 2003. The core of the research project was a focused interview and three written surveys. The two-hour focus group was held immediately following the Holy Saturday evening service, March 30, 2002. There were eight participants who came from a variety of religious backgrounds including Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and United Methodist. The mood of the people gathered for the group interview had definitely been affected by the service. They spoke in hushed tones and appeared to have experienced deep sadness during the service. The interview and the surveys affirmed that the goal of the new Holy Saturday worship service had been attained. Worshipers can learn about death and grief in their lives by experiencing more deeply the death of Jesus and the grief of the Disciples through participation in a specifically focused Holy Saturday worship service. The author has left to other researchers the task of demonstrating the therapeutic value of this method of healing.