Holding Space for the Shadows on Good Friday

During Holy Week, most of us are eager to get to Sunday. We know how the story ends. We know the tomb will be empty, the stone rolled away, the grief turned to joy. And so we rush through the solemnity of Good Friday, toward the joy that we know is coming. But Good Friday asks us to stay. To be still.

On April 3, we gathered for a solemn Tenebrae service. Tenebrae, from the Latin word for "darkness" or "shadows," is a service built around a simple, profound ritual: as the story of Christ's passion is told through scripture, prayer, and music, candles are extinguished one by one, until the room is held in total darkness.

It is not a comfortable service. It isn't meant to be.

It is an invitation to feel the full gravity of what this day means, and to resist the urge to look away.

Good Friday reminds us that the resurrection meaningful because of what it overcame. The empire and religion that resulted in the lynching of Jesus Christ was real. And the love that endured it—that love was real, too.

If you weren't with us that evening, or if you'd like to return to that sacred space of grief, the full Tenebrae service is available to watch below. We invite you to slow down, to sit with it, and to let the truth of the shadows be part of the story we remember.