Order of Services for Holy Week
Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus is at the heart of the life of the church, making Holy Week a uniquely significant time for Christians. The Sing! Hymnal can help leaders design a theologically robust and spiritually enriching service that includes hymns, liturgies, and Scripture readings. The order of services below provide thoughtfully composed Holy Week services for your church, utilizing singhymnal.com for ease of access.
Worship Service Liturgies for Holy Week:
A Liturgy for Palm Sunday
Call to Worship
Sing! Hymnal entry #800: Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Opening Hymn:
Sing! Hymnal entry #803: Hosanna, Loud Hosanna
Scripture Reading with optional call and response
Sing! Hymnal entry #799: Psalm 24:7–9
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Hymn:
Sing! Hymnal Entry #802: All Glory, Laud, and Honor
Scripture Reading
Luke 19:28–40
Scripture Reading, Prayer, Homily
Communion Hymn:
Sing! Hymnal entry #804: Ride On! Ride On in Majesty
Hymn
Sing! Hymnal entry #807: My Song Is Love Unknown
Confession of Sin
Sing! Hymnal entry #809: His Righteousness for My Unrighteousness
Father, I plead Jesus’ blood to pay my debts of wrong.
Accept his worthiness for my unworthiness,
his sinlessness for my transgressions,
his purity for my uncleanness,
his sincerity for my duplicity,
his truth for my deceits,
his meekness for my pride,
his constancy for my backslidings,
his love for my hatred,
his fullness for my emptiness,
his faithfulness for my disloyalty,
his obedience for my lawlessness,
his glory for my shame,
his devotedness for my waywardness,
his holy life for my impure ways,
his righteous faithfulness for my faithless works,
his death for my life. Amen.
Adapted from The Valley of Vision
Assurance of Pardon
Sing! Hymnal entry #146: Titus 3:4–7
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Closing hymn
Sing! Hymnal entry #201: At the Name of Jesus
Benediction:
Sing! Hymnal entry #820: Revelation 1:5; 5:13
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.
To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!
A broad set of resources, including piano scores, chord charts, and powerful search tools, is available on SingHymnal.com to help music leaders, pastors, and musicians lead worship in a variety of contexts. Learn More.
A Liturgy for Good Friday Service
Call to Worship with optional call and response
Sing! Hymnal entry #822: Isaiah 53:4–6
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned — every one — to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Hymn:
Sing! Hymnal entry #815: Stricken, Smitten, Afflicted
Reading 1:
Mark 14:32-50
Hymn
Sing! Hymnal entry #226: Man of Sorrows! What a Name
Reading 2:
Matthew 26:57–68
Hymn:
Sing! Hymnal entry #243: Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed
Reading 3:
Matthew 27:11–14, 20–26 A call and response may be added in this passage at the crowds response for Jesus to be crucified
Hymn
Sing! Hymnal entry #223: How Deep the Father’s Love for Us
Reading 4:
Luke 23:32–38, 44–49
Hymn:
Sing! Hymnal entry #817: What Wondrous Love Is This
Reading 5:
Matthew 27:45–56
Hymn:
Sing! Hymnal entry #242: Not What My Hands Have Done
Confession of Sin:
Sing! Hymnal entry #819: Good Friday
Today, O good Jesus,
for us you did not hide your face from shame and spitting.
Today, Jesus our Redeemer,
for us you were mocked, abused by unbelievers,
and crowned with thorns.
Today, O good Shepherd,
you laid down your life on the cross for the sheep,
and were crucified with robbers,
and had your sacred hands nailed through.
Today you were laid in the guarded tomb,
and the saints burst open their tombs.
Today, O good Jesus, put an end to our sins,
that on the day of your resurrection
we may joyfully receive your holy body,
and be refreshed with your sacred blood.
Amen.
Mozarabic Rite (11th c.)
Assurance of Pardon1
Sing! Hymnal entry #240: Ephesians 1:7
In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace.
Prayer, Scripture Reading, Homily
Communion Song
Sing! Hymnal entry #821 The Power of the Cross
Confession of Faith
Sing! Hymnal entry #813: At the Cross, What Did Christ’s Death Accomplish? Have the congregation answer aloud
He turned away the wrath of God against our iniquities.
He made an atoning sacrifice for our guilt.
He canceled our debt and forgave our sins.
He became sin so that we might be sinless in God’s sight.
He reconciled all things to himself, making peace.
He presented us holy, blameless, and above reproach.
He gave us access in one Spirit to the Father.
He triumphed over all evil rulers and authorities.
He made us alive so that we might die to sin and live for him.
Douglas Sean O’Donnell (b. 1972)
The service concludes with a prayer. No blessing or dismissal is added.
1While an assurance of pardon is included here, traditionally Good Friday services do not include one in order to reflect the somberness of the day.
A Liturgy for Easter Sunday
Call to Worship
Sing! Hymnal entry #829: 1 Peter 1:3–5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again
to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Opening Hymn
Sing! Hymnal Entry #825: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Scripture Reading
John 20:1–18
Liturgical Reading
Sing! Hymnal entry #823: Great Truths about the Glorious Resurrection with optional call and response
Who is the resurrection and the life?
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me,
though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in
me shall never die.”
What does God promise to all who believe?
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Will anything separate us from the love of God in Christ?
No! We can be “sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor
things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What will God do someday soon?
“He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears
from all faces.”
John 11:25–26; Romans 10:9; 8:38–39; Isaiah 25:8
Hymn
Sing! Hymnal Entry #429: Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It!
Confession of Sin
Sing! Hymnal Entry #106: Psalm 32:5–7
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
Assurance of Pardon
1 Corinthians 15:54–57
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hymn
Sing! Hymnal Entry #834: Rise My Soul, the Lord Is Risen
Congregational Prayer:
Sing! Hymnal Entry #681: A General Thanksgiving
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love. We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side. We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us. We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.
Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom. Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer (1979)
Scripture Reading, Homily
Communion Hymn
Sing! Hymnal Entry #854: Hail the Day That Christ Arose
Hymn
Sing! Hymnal Entry #856: Praise Him! Praise Him!
Confession of Faith
Sing! Hymnal entry #880: What Christ Will Do
Who is returning soon?
Jesus, the King of the nations and King of kings!
Jesus, the descendant of David, the bright morning star.
What will he do when he returns?
He will judge the wicked.
He will set us free from sin and death.
He will wipe away every tear.
He will quench our thirst.
He will give us eternal life.
He will heal the nations.
He will bring heaven to earth.
He will dwell with us forever.
He will make all things right!
Douglas Sean O’Donnell (b. 1972)
Benediction
Matthew 28:16–20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
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