Passover Service Information

The following information is provided to assist those baptized members who are keeping the Passover by themselves or with someone else. Ronald Weinland will cover much of this information before Passover. If you are new, you should also listen to the sermons that were given over the last two years that cover the meaning of Passover and Unleavened Bread.

The Passover is the annual memorial of our Savior’s death by which he paid the full penalty for all our sins. After one has repented of his/her sins and been baptized according to the scriptural teaching, the believer should faithfully observe the Passover each year as an annual renewal of his/her acceptance of the new covenant. Church members should attend the Passover service with a local congregation, but when this is not possible or practical, the Passover should be observed at home, following these directions.

Before Passover
Be prepared for the Passover service about a week in advance. Don’t leave things until the last day. Have a backup copy of the Passover Service. It can be downloaded onto your computer and saved, or it can be copied onto a CD, or both. This service is available on the Church website audio section (http://cog-pkg.org/audio/holy_days.aspx) by going to the “Passover” section and then clicking onto the one that says “Passover Service for Passover Night.”

You may not need the backup copy of the service (but have it on hand), as hopefully you will be able to download the actual service given this year. Ronald and Laura Weinland plan to be in New Zealand for Passover and that service will be uploaded onto the website as soon as that service is over. Because of worldwide time zones, New Zealand is the first to observe Passover and this makes it possible for all others to hear the same service. By Passover day, we will have a special section at the top of the “Audio” page of the Church website where that “Passover Service” will be posted.

Before Passover, obtain a small bottle of red wine (something like Merlot, Shiraz, or Cabernet Sauvignon) and a small glass, like a liqueur glass, for each person. Obtain some unleavened bread. Flat bread may be baked without leavening, or one may purchase Jewish Matzoth or Matzos, or unleavened plain Rye Krisp or Ryvita (check labels to make sure the product does not contain yeast, soda, baking powder, or other leavening agents). Have a plastic bowl/basin (large enough to place one foot in it at a time) and access to water, along with your own towel. Wear Sabbath clothing on Passover night. Remember that this is a solemn evening. It is a time for some fellowship, but conversations should be at a lower level than on the Sabbath (not a time for loud conversation and loud laughter). Bring your Bible.

About 30 minutes to an hour before the start of the Passover Service
Open the red wine and pour a small amount (about 1 tablespoon) into the glass. (One glass for each person in attendance). Then cover the glasses with a white cloth. Place a full piece of unleavened bread on a plate (this will be broken into small pieces later during the service). Cover the plate with a white cloth.

This year’s service is Sunday evening, the 28th of March 2010, after sunset.
Start the service after sundown, and then follow the instructions as they are given on the pre-recorded Passover Service. When you come to the foot washing part of the service, pause/stop the recording when instructed. If you are by yourself you do not participate in this part of the service. If you are with someone else of the same sex, you are to wash one another’s feet. The only exception is husband and wife who may wash one another’s feet if no one else is present with them. Place a small amount of water in each bowl, and take off all footwear. Women should not wear hose to the Passover service. One person is then seated while the other person kneels and washes the other person’s feet. Wash and dry one foot at a time. Then change places allowing the other person to wash and dry the feet of the other. Once finished, put shoes (and socks) back on and get rid of the water. Sit back down and start the recording again.

The service then continues and you are to follow the recording until instructed to stop again. One person is to uncover the unleavened bread on the plate (remove the white cloth). A prayer will be given which is on the recording. After the prayer, break the bread into small pieces. One person then presents the others with a piece of the broken bread from the plate. Each person takes one small piece of the unleavened bread and eats it. When all are finished the white cloth should be placed over the leftover unleavened bread so that it is covered once again.

The service then continues and you are to follow the recording until instructed to stop again. Uncover the glass or glasses (remove the white cloth). A prayer will be given, which is on the recording. One person then presents the others with a glass from the tray. Each person takes a glass and drinks the wine. Once finished the glasses are collected and placed back on the tray and covered with the white cloth.

Then the service continues and you are to follow the recording until is has finished. At the end of the service a song is sung. If you know the song you may sing along, but if you do not know it, simply listen to the words and consider their meaning. The service is now finished. Each person should then go home.

The left over red wine and the left over unleavened bread must simply be discarded and NOT used or consumed.

---------------------------------------------------

SONG for PASSOVER SERVICE: “In Thy Lovingkindness, Lord” (Ps. 51)

In Thy loving kindness Lord, be merciful to me;
In compassion great blot out, all iniquity.
Wash me thoroughly from sin, from all guilt Thou me;
For transgressions I confess; sins I ever see.

‘Gainst Thee only have I sinned, done evil in Thy sight,
That Thou speaking may be just, and in judging right.
My iniquities blot out, my sin hide from Thy view,
And in me a clean heart make, spirit right renew.

From Thy gracious presence, Lord, O cast me not away,
And Thy Holy Spirit take not from me I pray.
Joy which Thy salvations brings again to me restore;
With Thy Spirit free do Thou keep me ever more.

Sacrifice dost Thou not want, else would I give it Thee,
And with offering shalt Thou not delighted be.
For a broken spirit is to God a sacrifice,
And a broken, contrite heart, Thou wilt not despise.