THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 6, 1995 TAG: 9504050202
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TRUDY CUTHRELL, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
SHOUTS OF PRAISE and worship - ``Hosanna, Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord!'' - will be heard during a ``Procession of the Palms'' coordinated by Suffolk's four North Main Street churches.
Beginning at 10:15 a.m. Sunday in the courtyard of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the processional will include members of St. Paul's, Main Street Methodist, Suffolk Christian and First Baptist churches.
Patterned after the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, this Palm Sunday processional will include celebration and pageantry.
``How do you honor a king? With a parade!'' noted the Rev. Vance Mann of St. Paul's. According to Mann, this tradition dates back to the 4th century and its observance celebrates the kingship of Christ.
As worshipers gather at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 213 N. Main St., the joint ringing of carillons across downtown Suffolk will signal the beginning of the procession. Mann will open this celebration with the ``Blessing of the Palms'' and the processional singing of ``All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name.''
Led by a young donkey and a rough-hewn cross carried by acolytes Thomas Woodward and Jarrett Moore, the processional will continue south on Main Street to the crosswalk at The Sun office building. Worship banners, palm and olive branches, and flowers will be carried by participants.
Chris Ward, minister of music at Main Street, noted that their children's Sunday school classes will carry a variety of props.
``We invited our classes to make and carry something that expressed their love for Christ,'' she said.
The festive spirit of the processional will be enhanced by handbell ringers accompanying the singing of Easter hymns along the way. Returning north on Main Street past Main Street United Methodist Church, the worship processional will pause in front of Suffolk Christian Church for the Scriptural reading of Christ' entry into Jerusalem, as recorded in Luke 19:28-40. Participants will then join in prayer and the singing of the majestic hymn, ``Lead On O King Eternal.''
Continuing north on Main Street and crossing at First Baptist, the processional will disperse around 10:50 a.m., allowing worshipers to continue to their respective churches for the culmination of their Palm Sunday worship.
``Everyone is very excited about participating in this event,'' noted Andy Madsen, music minister at First Baptist. At his church, the choir will begin its morning worship service with ``We Cry Hosanna, Lord!'' giving processional participants an opportunity to enter the sanctuary and lay their palm branches on the altar.
``This will be a great act to witness,'' Mann said of this Palm Sunday pageantry. ``A wonderful and meaningful way to begin Holy Week.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Thomas Woodward, an accolyte at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in
Suffolk, will take part in the Palm Sunday procession down Main
Street.
by CNB