New Life Church’s Tenebrae service brings Easter to life

     New Life Church of the Nazarene in Monticello invites the community to their Tenebrae service on Good Friday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m.

   The church and its members and volunteers have been working hard to offer a moving Biblical message of the events leading up to Good Friday and Easter.

   The service will include music, silent actors, readings from the Bible, and seven candles that will be extinguished after each reading.

   “We hope to gain insight into the events of Good Friday in a new way by placing replicas of artifacts from the crucifixion on display for people to hear, see, touch, and even taste,” offered New Life Church.

   Some of the items on display or used throughout the telling of the story include:

   • A Jewish high priest’s robe

   • A Roman soldier’s clothes and gear

   • A Roman legionnaire’s sword

   • 30 pieces of silver

   • A wooden cross that was made according to the estimated size and weight of the wooden cross used during the crucifixion

   • A flagellum embedded with bones and metal

   • A crown of thorns

   • Matzo bread

   • A ram’s horn

   Kathy Pisarik and Leslie Somerville, members of New Life, said the idea for the Tenebrae service came from their interim pastor, Michael Lynch.

   “He had done this same service at another church in Davenport before,” said Pisarik.

   In fact, that same church loaned several replica artifacts to New Life.

   “We were intrigued because that church isn’t a huge church and we thought we could do that here, too,” added Pisarik.

   “Tenebrae” refers to the three days of Holy Week. It means “darkness.” Somerville said as each candle is extinguished, the light of the world grows dimmer and dimmer as the death of Christ nears.

   “At the end, there will be one candle lit,” she shared. “As it’s snuffed out, it signifies Christ’s death.”

   The Tenebrae service begins at 7:30 p.m., which was intentional as the church wanted to have a late evening service to create the feeling of darkness inside the sanctuary.

   Through the use of real-to-life artifacts, both Pisarik and Somerville said the Good Friday story really comes to life in a different way than people heard it told before.

   “Many times, when we hear a story told over and over again,” offered Pisarik, “it tends to lose some meaning.”

   For instance, the 30 pieces of silver represents the price for a slave in Roman times.

   For the cross, Larry Pisarik procured the wood, Doug Vorwald donated the wood, and Kent Eagleburger cut and pieced the life-sized cross together.

   “The (Tenebrae) story seems much more alive and emotional through the use of such items,” noted Pisarik.

   The costumes were sewn by Somerville, which also give churchgoers an idea for how people dressed in that time period.

   New Life Church started working on their Tenebrae service following the Christmas holiday season.

   “We all got together in mid-January,” recalled Somerville.

   Craig Vasey is directing the event.

   “The service is open to all those in and around the community,” offered Pisarik. “We encourage people to come and experience it with us.”

   New Life Church is located at 16159 County Road E-16 (lower P) just outside of Monticello.