March 25th

Title:  The Tenebrae: A Humanist Reconsideration of Holy Week

By Jennifer Cottril

Many Christian denominations observe Holy Week—the last week of Jesus’ life—with a service of the Tenebrae (literally, “shadows”), extinguishing candles one by one while recounting the story of the events leading to Jesus’ death. While many Unitarian Universalists would reject the Christian doctrines associated with the crucifixion, this story is nevertheless a powerful human drama. This service includes readings from the Christian scriptures interspersed with reflections on the universal human experiences of faith in the face of grief, loneliness, and death.