Maundy Thursday-April 2
April 2, 2026
Maundy Thursday
John 13:1-17, 31b-35 | “An Example”
Call to Worship
Leader: That night, they sat with each other at table
the fearful, the quiet, the brave
Left side: the hurting, the hurt, the heart
Right side: the complicit, the resistant, the curious
Leader: knowing that the bombs and cages and crosses just outside the door
All: took up space in their own tender hearts of flesh
Leader: And Jesus rose from among them
and his knees said, this is what power looks like
Left side: and the water said, this is what life streams like
Right side: and his hands said, this is what a new world dreams like
Left side: and the towel said, this is what freedom cares like
Right side: and their feet said, this is what courage moves like
Leader: And they did not understand
but they did
All: And nothing changed
but everything did
Leader: This night, we sit with each other at table
wondering what all this means for our own lives
All: an example laid before us as a new commandment
and our washed feet the story we will tell.
Invocation
In this place, in this moment
let there be love here
love that knows how to reach all the way to the end
love that kneels and serves
love that wraps its arms around betrayer and protector alike
love that sets an example and a path to follow.
In this place, in this moment
let there be love here
so that we remember and know who we are. Amen.
Seeking Transformation and New Life
Call to Transformation
Leader:
“You will never wash my feet.”
That’s what Peter said when Jesus reached him with a basin and towel.
Not because he was ignorant or obstinate or disrespectful.
It was because he couldn’t let go of the hierarchies that lived in his body.
It wasn’t appropriate. It wasn’t proper. It wasn’t right.
But Jesus said, “show up to the relationship, Peter, not what you think is right:
this, here, is an example.”
I wonder how many times in the last week or month or year we have thought,
that’s not appropriate,
they’re not doing it right,
unable to release our own sense of respectability and decorum,
the hierarchies that lives in our own bodies.
Where have we encountered Jesus’ example and said
“You will never wash my feet.”
Let us open our hearts to vulnerability and transformation as we pray.
Time of silent reflection
[As a way to embody this moment of reflection, you might invite people to place their hand on one of their feet as they reflect on the ways they invest in their own rightness over relationship.]
[If you wanted to foster deeper engagement, instead of silent reflection, you could invite folks to turn to their neighbor and share briefly about a time when they found it hard to release a sense of respectability or knowing what’s right, privileging their own sensibilities over relationship.]
Prayer for New Life
Leader: When we are so sure we are right
that it keeps us from loving,
Assembly: wash our feet, God.
Leader: When we insist on being the savior
instead of showing up in solidarity,
Assembly: wash our feet, God.
Leader: When the hierarchies in our bones
thwart our practices of mutuality,
Assembly: wash our feet, God. Amen.
Words of Grace
Leader: Love.
Love is the path and the direction.
Love is the water and the feet.
Love is the forgiveness and the chance to try again.
Love is the example and the pattern.
Love.
Assembly: Praise God who loves us to the end.
Sacred Water, Sacred Hands/Feet: A Ritual for Hand/Footwashing
Materials needed: stations set up with basins, chairs, towels, and pitchers of water
[You can use this prayer and ritual to introduce and accompany either footwashing or handwashing. It would work best if you choose one or the other. Use the word and/or phrase in the prayer that correspond to the kind of ritual you choose]
Introduction
this water is sacred (pour some water from a pitcher into a basin)
these hands/feet are sacred (hold up your hands/point to your feet)
all that these hands/feet will touch is sacred (hold up a towel)
this way of tender fierceness is sacred
this example of vulnerable intimacy is sacred because
touch is sacred
and all that these hands/feet will touch is sacred (hold up a towel)
these hands/feet are sacred (hold up your hands/point to your feet)
this water is sacred (pour some water from a pitcher into a basin)
Prayer
Holy One, Almighty Love, who kneels down at our feet,
as we take the time to wash our hands/feet with intention,
teach us to treat our bodies, all bodies, with tenderness and grace
like we would the hands/feet of our most beloved ones.
Tell us again the story of how flesh is love and Love is flesh
and that loving each other is our calling,
is our way in this world,
is what this simple act of cleansing is all about.
In the moments to come,
as we return to a world of uncertainty and turmoil,
use the lingering imprint of this touch
and the dampness that remains on our skin
to remind us of the persistence of your love for all created beings
so that each time we feel it,
we will return to ourselves, as people of care and compassion
and remember this example of what it means to love like you.
Amen.
Instructions
Come to one of the stations and be seated and prepare your hands/feet to be washed. If someone is already seated, take a basin and put it under their hands/feet. Pour a bit of water over their hands/feet and wash them. Then take a clean towel and dry them. Switch places and continue.
Music during ritual
Ubi Caritas (Taize) by Jacques Berthier
In God’s Hands by Tracy Howe
God Bless Every Step by Ruth Cunningham
Words of Commitment
Leader: As we hold the example Jesus gave us
and move from this ritual into moments that will change and challenge us,
may our knees say,
Assembly: this is what power looks like
Leader: and the water say,
Assembly: this is what life streams like
Leader: and our hands say,
Assembly: this is what a new world dreams like
Leader: and our towels say,
Assembly: this is what freedom cares like
Leader: and our feet say,
Assembly: this is what courage moves like
Leader: and through it all, may our lives say
Assembly: this is what love acts like.
Invitation to Generosity
When we gather together in worship as a community, we don’t just take an offering because we or others in our community need money and other resources. We also do it as a practice, a way of following Jesus’ example into mutual relationships that reveal God’s loving ways in the world. So let us give our offerings now as a sign of our ongoing striving to be a part of the ways of love.
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, may these offerings be gestures of tender fierceness, of vulnerable intimacy, of table-turning love, of power upending service in a world that craves domination and privilege. Through them, may we wash the feet of those who most need to know that they are loved beyond measure. Amen.
Benediction
Beloveds, go forth from this place
listening for what your washed feet will tell you
about us and them
about fascism and crucifixions
and how acts of tender care in the midst of it all
are our calling, our resistance, our path of freedom.
May your feet
become the story you tell
and your following
become an example of the love
so revolutionary that it dies
and becomes a new day rising.
“An Example”: Service Prayers for Maundy Thursday was written by Dr. Sharon R. Fennema who serves as a free-range facilitator, ritualist, activist, teacher, and writer whose work lives at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, disability and embodied spiritual practices. She is a founding member of the Liberating Lineages Collective.
