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The rescheduling of Easter celebrations - Gottesdienst recommendations

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As the tumultuous and extraordinary pandemic unfolds before us, it appears likely, if not inevitable, that Easter Sunday on April the 12th will be unlike anything any of us has ever experienced. Empty churches, silent organs and trumpets, absent congregations, and families sequestered at home. That, we all know, is no way to celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord. The editors of Gottesdienst have been considering this matter carefully, and have come up with some practical recommendations for our churches across the United States, as they deal with the grim reality that social distancing has created, necessary as it may be. We know that you are all saying your prayers for mercy already, as are we. And we all expect this crisis to end, though probably not before the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord.

Here, then, is what we recommend:

1) Do not attempt to transfer the Feast of the Resurrection.

The temptation to do this is strong, and no doubt some people will think it a great solution. We do not believe it is the correct course of action, though we also considered the possibility. The Church’s liturgical calendar does not lend itself—has never lent itself—to such changes, no matter what the exigency. Even during the Black Death of the mid-14th century, Easter remained in its own place. Its immutability is tied to the reality that under-girds it. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is an historical event, as real as any other. More than that, it is a moment in history when Divinity intervened mightily in the natural flow of this fallen world’s events, when he who was once dead now stood, very much alive, before his glad disciples and said, “Peace be unto you.” Nothing can change this fact, and its immutability is declared starkly by the immovability of Easter. Although the East and the West usually do observe Easter Sunday on different dates, neither tradition ever moves the Feast from its appointed time. Neither considers that a possibility, any more than it would be possible to alter the fact of Jesus’ resurrection under-girding it. For this reason, although there are certain movable Feasts of the Church’s year, there are others which do not move. There is considerable debate about which Feasts are movable, especially among Lutherans who already suffer from a tendency to abuse the notion of adiaphora. But everyone, whether or not liturgically inclined, and even whether Christian or not, has always agreed for centuries that the Resurrection of Our Lord is not a movable Feast. We toy with moving it now in the name of emergency only at great peril.

2) Determine locally when your church will be afforded the opportunity to congregate again, and plan big things either for that day or, if the time of return turns out to be incremental, for a target date of special celebration soon afterwards, as an extra special Sunday at worship.

Every Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection, as we all know, so during this extraordinary year plan to observe another Sunday with all the extras of Easter Day. Determine as well as you are able when that can be. When will the grace of God permit you all to regather as a full congregation? Identify that Sunday as your big day. If it should fall on the first Sunday in May, or in June, or whenever local circumstances may dictate, then that Sunday may be scheduled as your great day of return. Nevertheless, the propers for that Sunday would remain as they already are: whether Fourth Sunday of Easter, or Trinity Sunday, or whatever Sunday it is on the Church’s liturgical calendar. It would still be the same day liturgically as it ever was, but you could now add many extras to it, the kind of additions we are accustomed to seeing on Easter Sunday: choirs, organ, trumpets, special music, Easter hymns you love to sing. The sermon, while still ideally tied somehow to the appointed Holy Gospel for that day, could also be heavily dependent on the accounts of the Resurrection. A healthy emphasis on the Resurrection is often the case to some degree throughout the year, but this day in this year it can be more so, this special day of celebration. Easter lilies and bows could also adorn your church. Everything other than the propers and readings can fully reclaim and revel in the Easter gladness of the Resurrection Feast.

3) Recommend special things for the targeted day of return to the members of the congregation, that they might also prepare to involve and invest themselves in its celebration of Easter.

Personal Easter accouterments could be recommended to the members of the church for the day of return, to whatever extent is feasible. Perhaps an Easter breakfast, with Easter eggs and sweets and the like. Now, at last, bring out your Easter hats, your bright clothing, your extra efforts to dress your best, perhaps with new outfits, as often happens on Easter Sunday. Thus the entire congregation can become involved in the preparations in some very personal ways, especially if they become aware that a targeted date will be made soon, and if the date itself can be scheduled well enough in advance. Suggestions might even be made that the families of the congregation consider scheduling at home the kinds of reunions they had to cancel on April the 12th. In short, this day, whenever it falls, could be a day of double celebration: of the Resurrection of our Lord, and of the ending of the plague. Veritably everything might be moved from Easter Sunday to that day except for the Easter Sunday propers, which remain in their own place for those churches around the world who are able to observe and celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection at its own appointed time. Even so, the actual joy of Easter is not simply movable, it is perpetual, as surely as Christ our Lord is risen from the dead.