Busyness of Holy Week

Today, being Good Friday, I feel I should be contemplating the death of Jesus on the cross. But with preparation for a service I am leading on Sunday morning, the death of Christ is being pushed out of the way by the resurrection.

Which gets me thinking of a couple of things regarding ministry and worship and workload - all sort of bundled up together. This might become a stream of consciousness, so apologies in advance.

I (in Kirk terms) am not that old and I remember a time when the Kirk, generally, didn't do daily services during Holy Week. While it's not something I really thought about at the time, there almost seemed to be an undercurrent that was done by other denominations, not the Kirk. Which makes me wonder why Holy Week didn't used to generally be marked by the Kirk and what changed.

For at least 20 years my home church has been open all day on Good Friday for quiet reflection. How and why it began, I can't recall. But I do remember it being quiet unusual at the time. Even now, with most churches I am aware of marking at least some of Holy Week (beyond Palm and Easter Sundays), there is still an emphasis on having to have a service. Realistically, I wonder how many Church of Scotland churches which aren't tourist attractions (pardon the phrase, but I can't think of another way of expressing it) are open for anyone to sit and contemplate Jesus' death (or get warmth on this most Baltic of Good Fridays!). Surely having the space to let people draw close to God is a good thing. I know it doesn't need to be a church building, but there's no reason why it shouldn't.

Most Kirk ministers I have talked to about busyness have an exasperation most (even in their congregations) see that Christmas is busy, yet neglect to have the same perception about Easter. Unlike Christmas, the services for Holy Week have to be fitted around the demands of 'ordinary' ministry, which do not ease to the same extent as over the Christmas period. So, is doing so many services over 1 week creating a rod for our backs?

Which makes me wonder how churches might work with other congregations over this week. In my home town, some neighbouring churches share Holy Week services, so each congregation does 1 or 2 additional services this week, rather than the potential of 5 or 6. Another couple of church I know of the services are led by various members of the congregation, taken the burden from the minister and allowing those who feel called in such a way to serve. There's no prefect solution to this one and I know what I do will depend on me and the congregation's circumstances.

With the 'normal' work load, combined with additional services this week there's a lot to fit in. Then this is an emotional week (I know, no flies on me!). With all that, is it possible to be worshipful when leading worship this week? I pray I can be. I believe it is only when I am worshipping I can truly lead worship, but that is a balancing act I am still perfecting. I wonder how experienced ministers do this? A wise supervisor did tell me I'd know I was in the right place if I was able to combine the two.