We will try to cover both.  The opening is a celebration; about halfway thru we'll become a bit more somber and reflecctive.  At least this is what I have done different places in  the past.  If it doesn't work so well here, well, next year we'll try somwtging different.

I believe in our church that this Palm Sunday will be a celebration.  I know we will have palms and there is some indication that there will be some kind of interactive opportunities, especially for the children.  I don't know if  this means a parade or what.

We've always celebrated Palm Sunday as the triumphal entry and don't focus on the passion or the rest of the week at this service.  That's because we do have a Maundy Thursday service and a Good Friday service.  I believe this year our Maundy Thursday service starts with a finger food feast in our multipurpose room (communion), then we will enter into the Garden of Gethsemane in our foyer, and then go into the Sanctuary for the service.

Our Good Friday service is at 7:00 p.m. and will probably be more on the solemn reflective side.  I guess this because the minister announced on Sunday that the Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter Sunday would be services geared for the children (we are having 4 babies baptised on Easter Sunday), but that Good Friday would be more of a solemn service.

Note:  We generally do not have that many baptisms - we are currently without minister personnel and have been so for some time - we currently have a minister who is with us for a short time in a term ministry and so is doing baptism as we haven't had one for a long time.

There were quite a few families in the church I previous attended - where I volunteered in Christian Development.  We worked together with the Worship committee on this one.

We would start off with the palm parade of children, youth and the young at heart, marching around the sanctuary waving palms - then the usual opening - call to worship, hymn, prayer, children's time (retelling the story of Palm Sunday) then the smaller children would continue to wave palms while they went out for Sunday School, and the older classes would remain for the scripture readings which some years reinacted a walk through Holy Week, beginning the Last Supper, the scene in the garden, Jesus arrest, the trial(s), and the crucifixion.  Moving from Palm to Passion.  The closing might remind people of the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, and the celebrations of Joy on Easter morning. 

I agree Matt. We offer the services and it is everyone'sdecision if they will come. Why compromise?

In Quebec, the employer has a choice of giving only one of Good Friday or Easter Monday as a holiday. So many people did not get Good Friday as a holiday. We chose to hold our  Good Friday service in the evening as a result.

Here in my current parish, we stay with the Palm Sunday hymn. Only the last hymn begins to point towards what is to come. This year we close the Palm Sunday service with "Go to dark Gethsemane".

For several years now we have purchased real palms from our local florist (for several years the Sunday School had fake plastic ones).  One Palm Sunday, in the re-enactment of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem the minister leading the service had some of the people lay down the palms on the aisle and as we walked out we walked over the palms.  I guess from people stepping on them a fragment aroma drifted up out of the palms and hung in the air.  I never knew palms to have a fragrance before this happened.

To tell you the truth, Gord, I don't really think our church has anything special planned. In other years the choir (led by me) has sung "The Palms" but this year there is no choir as our pianist has been away having a surgery done and then recovering from it. The Sunday School kids may do something, make crosses out of palm branches or something. I see the local Islington United Church is observing "Palms/Passion Sunday"

Yes, that is the case, RAN.   Which is one of the strong arguments in favour of having a combined Palm/Passion service.  But I believe the costs of that outweigh the benefits of those who are not willing to take the story seriously (again, I would feel differently in a province where it the day is not a holiday).

RAN wrote: "Can it be that a significant portion of people who attend church never hear the story of Jesus' death?"  I think most of them have heard the story (several times). But two thousand years later, we're still debating what that death means.  And how we respond to that death.  So perhaps part of this discussion needs to be 'what is the meaning we take from this story, and how is it to affect our lives?'  We're great on repeating the story but connecting the dots is considerably harder.  Of course this opens a Pandora's box of differing interpretations, doesn't it? But doesn't worship need to be more than just going through the motions?  So regardless of when the Passion service is held, what do you want congregants to take away with them?

Headlines:  Next week see "Bible Study - John 18 - 19" for the Passion story as told by the writers of John.

I actually haven't attended a good friday service fow a few years. When my kids were young it wasn't appropriate-too adult oriented and too gloomy and sad,

We do regularly attend a seder supper on Thurs and a Maundy Thursday service.

Prior to kids i always attended Good friday.

I always took my kids to the Maundy Thursday service and the Good Friday service.  My granddaughter was in an infant carseat the first time I carried her in and sat her down on the floor beside me - few people knew she was there.  As she grew older she took a more active part in the seder meal, and ask penetrating questions that made me think about what I believed on the way home from the Good Friday services. 

I explained that although Good Friday was a sad time, Easter was a time of joy and celebration.

We each make choices for our own reasons.

My kids have had plenty of gloomy bits in life.

Thye have been at many funerals of realtives and friends. The 2 oldest remember the still birth of their brother. The youngest was born after.

When the kids were elemntary school age Good Friday was an evening service starting in light and ending in silence and dark. it started just before there bedtime and ended after-and if I recall-other families did not bring kids-it was very adult oriented.

We did attend a Sat vigil bonfire (different church) for a few years. Kids activities, bonfire, sparklers and then the kids went home and there was an adult vigil.

At my current church teens usually stay up all night in Vigil Sat. until easter sunrise service.

Anyhow not attending Good Friday service has worked for my kids. As teens they still attend church most sundays.