March 29, 2026
Palm Sunday
Matthew 21:1-11 | "Cut Branches" 

Call to Worship
Leader:	Into the belly of the beast, on the back of a beast of burden…
This is no parade of the powerful, 
no extravaganza for empire.
Assembly:	Hosanna!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Resistance. 
Hosanna in the highest heaven!

Leader:	Into occupied streets, on stolen land…
This is no marvel of military might, 
no crusade of cruelty.
Assembly:	Hosanna!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Refuge. 
Hosanna in the highest heaven!

Leader:	Into histories of harm, surrounded by lineages of liberation…
		This is no acquiescence in advance,  
		no complicity through conformity. 
Assembly:	Hosanna!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Solidarity. 
Hosanna in the highest heaven!

Leader:	May our worship this day prepare the way for the Prince of Peace, 
		cut branches for the King of Compassion, 
line the path for the Lord of Liberation,
		soften the road for the Sovereign of Solidarity.  
Assembly:	May our worship this day prepare us 
for where this way will lead.  

Opening Song: One Foot/Lead with Love by Melanie DeMore

Invocation
Lay it down, 
here, 
now,
whatever covers your vulnerability
cloaks your openness. 
Let it become part of the way of courage. 

Lay it down, 
here,
now, 
whatever shades your brilliance
branches over your belovedness.
Let it become part of the way of grace. 

Spread the cloaks. 
Cut the branches.
Line this road, this journey, this way
with your cries for freedom
until all our hearts and voices 
move toward, “Hosanna.” 

Seeking Transformation and New Life
∙	Call to Transformation
Leader:
When Jesus set the stage for his entrance into Jerusalem, he knew he would be competing with outward and visible displays of the dominating power of the Roman Empire. But he also knew that Empire didn’t just live in parades of the powerful and shows of force.  Empire also lives in our bodies, minds, spirits, relationships, and communities.  So he set out with a donkey and a colt and a band of outcasts and freedom-fighters to help them and us imagine a different kind of power – the power of love and justice.  

So on this day palms and hosannas, let us open ourselves to the transformation that comes from naming the ways Empire lives within us, and shapes the world around us with a story of dominance, division, and violence. 

∙	Time of Silent Reflection
○	[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 way their imagination or community has been shaped by Empire, and its ways of being: hierarchy, domination, violence, scarcity, etc.]
○	[As a way to embody this moment of reflection, you might invite people to place their hand on a part of their body that has been impacted by Empire’s imagination.]

∙	Prayer for New Life
Leader:	For the ways Empire has taught us to fear difference
		and believe that strength and safety require dominance and violence,
Assembly: 	God, have mercy. 
Leader:	For the ways Empire makes hierarchy the air we breathe
		and shapes who and what has worth and dignity, 
Assembly:	Christ, have mercy. 
Leader:	For the ways Empire separates us 
		and convinces us that we don’t belong to the land or each other.
Assembly:	God have mercy. 
Leader:	Open us to notice the tension, longing, and dissonance in our bodies
		revealing where Empire has tangled itself around us. 
Assembly:	Turn us around, Holy One.  Amen.

∙	Words of Grace
Leader:	Let your soul receive this rest: 
		You and we are not what Empire imagines. 
		There is resistance, liberation, and wisdom beyond Empire. 
Assembly:	Praise God who forgives us and frees us
inviting us to a belonging 
where dignity isn’t earned, bought, or proven, 
but received as grace.

Practicing Kinship: Palms and Prayers
Materials Needed: Palm fronds, fine point permanent markers, the beginnings of some palm weavings (see this website for some helpful instructions). 

Introduction
Jesus knew that Empire succeeds when we are divided from one another, when we believe the lie that in order for me to flourish, someone else has to suffer.  So he brought his followers together as he entered Jerusalem to remind them that liberation is communal, resistance is shared, and our common worth and dignity makes us kin. As that community long ago used palm branches to honor the power of love and justice that Jesus embodied, so we too, today, are invited to use our palm branches to honor our connections and care for each other in prayer.  

You are invited to take one of the markers near you and write on your palm frond a prayer that you are holding this day.  When you are done, come forward, say your prayer out loud if you wish, and weave your palm frond into one of these weavings of prayer. If coming forward is not possible for you today, you can ask an usher to bring one of the weavings to you in your seat. May this practice remind us that we do not carry our prayers alone, but belong to one another in community.  

Concluding Words
Leader: 	(holding up a single frond) Repeat after me: This is my prayer. 
Assembly:	This is my prayer. 
Leader:	(holding up one of the weavings) These are our prayers. 
Assembly:	These are our prayers. 
Leader: 	Know that these prayers are held by the heart of God 
and the hearts of this community. 
Our joys and celebrations, our griefs and concerns 
are a part of one another.  May it be so.  Amen.   

Invitation to Generosity
When Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him into Jerusalem to find a donkey and colt for the protest he was planning, he was already showing them a way beyond Empire, where goods are shared in common and the worth of any being isn’t only what they can do or produce.  He reassures the disciples who might be questioning their task, saying, “If anyone says anything to you, just say this, 'The Lord needs them.'” What resources might Jesus be asking you to share in common today?  What might the Lord need from you to support our collective life and flourishing beyond scarcity? Let us give our offering today as a practice of resisting empire and moving toward God’s vision of abundant love.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
With our offerings we say, “thank you” and practice a new economy. 
With our practices we say, “yes, God,” and resist Empire’s hold. 
With our resistance we say, “Hosanna,” and bless all the ones, 
who journey in the ways of courage and grace. Amen. 

Benediction
Hosanna! 
Blessed are the ones who cut branches to honor the power of Love moving among us. 
Hosanna! 
Blessed are the ones who go forth in the name of abundant life. 
Hosanna! 
Blessed are the ones who choose the path of learning and unlearning, doing and undoing. 
Hosanna! 
Blessed are the ones who journey toward liberation together. 

May the One who had traveled this way before, 
guide your hearts and minds in the ways of peace and justice, love and freedom,
beyond anything Empire can imagine. Amen. 

Cut Branches: Service Prayers for Palm Sunday Year A 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.