This is one of those church things you either know well, or don’t know at all. It’s worth knowing and isn’t intuitive. I’ll make this brief.
Today is Maundy Thursday. It’s always the Thursday before Easter. The name maundy comes from the Latin mandamus for commandment, as in what Jesus told his disciple (=students):
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (John 13:34, King James Version)
In Universalist churches historically, there would be an observance of the Lord’s Supper — also instituted on Maundy Thursday in the majority opinion — sometimes being the only time in the year! (and a good place to provide it, I think, in those churches that have never had it but want to introduce it.) It was also a day to induct new members.
Thanks Scott… appreciate this one. Any sense a Thursday service is becoming more popular with people? I’ve just heard from some who will be going to Church today and it’s a bit out of the ordinary for them.
Not yet, only anecdotal tidbits now.
Went to the communion service and meal at the Universalist Church in Muncie. A few echos of the Brethren Maunday Thursday love feast. But then, in the Mid-West there was a membership flow between Universalists and Brethren.