One of the most difficult liturgical decisions pastors have to make on Palm Sunday is whether the focus of our liturgy should remain just on the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, with all of its palm-waving and Hosanna-shouting drama. Or, whether we should then add and conclude the liturgy with a reading of the Passion Story, which this year would be from the Gospel of Mark.
Many decades ago, Protestant churches in America made a decision in favor of the latter option, combining the two stories into one Palm Sunday/Passion liturgy. The principal reason this decision was made was because fewer and fewer congregants were attending Good Friday services--where the passion story is front and center--and it was felt that this was just too important a story to be missed by the average Sunday churchgoer. That is a perfectly sensible decision.
However, the price that is paid in making this choice is that the Palm Sunday liturgy becomes an emotional rollercoaster, moving abruptly from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the horrors of the passion story, in a very compressed and head-spinning timeframe. This approach essentially condenses the entire drama of Holy Week into one service, which can be somewhat confusing.
My preference has been, and is again this year, to separate the liturgy of the palms from the Passion story, so that Palm Sunday remains focused on the triumphal entry narrative, with all of its suspense and expectation. I believe this is more liturgically coherent. In doing this, however, my fervent hope is that all of you will come on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, to watch how the rest of the narrative unfolds during the course of the whole week. These two Holy Week services are among the most powerful in all of Christian liturgy.
I realize, of course, that for some people it may be impossible or difficult to attend Holy Week services. If you fall into that category, I have another option to suggest: please consider taking fifteen minutes out of your day some time next week to read on your own Mark's account of the passion story. It may be found at Mark 14:1--15:47. Or, to make things even easier, you could watch a dramatic reading of the story on video like this one, which has the benefit of offering some visual detail to the story. Finally, I also will be leaving some pamphlets in the Narthex on Sunday with copies of Mark's Passion story in them for those who want to pick one up.
The crucial point is that, in addition to coming to our Palm Sunday service this weekend, I strongly encourage everyone to experience the Passion narrative for him- or herself, either by coming to church during Holy Week or reading or watching story on your own. Remember, we can only get to Easter by going through (not around) Good Friday.