6 Palm Sunday Service Ideas: Processions and Interactive Liturgies

The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and beginning Holy Week. Even less-liturgical churches often dip a toe into the liturgical waters, distributing palms for members of the congregation to wave during the service. Other Protestant and Catholic churches have specific texts, prayers, and processions to go with the palm fronds. 

There’s been a surge of interest among historically less-formally-liturgical churches in experimenting with liturgy and also among many more liturgical churches in exploring creative ways to adapt liturgy to help the congregation more fully enter into the spiritual reality of days like Palm Sunday. 

This post is for both the new-to-liturgy-but-interested pastor and the experienced liturgist. We want to offer liturgical options that are creative, but also are faithful to the events we commemorate on Palm Sunday — these ideas are rooted in the Biblical story and core theological themes. We want to offer more than novelty: to enable a fresh experience of the story of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that breaks through some of the dullness of familiarity. 

We have mostly focused on things relating to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem in this post. That means that we don’t get into the rich tradition of the “Liturgy of the Passion,” the dramatic reading of one of the crucifixion narratives from the gospels. We’ll leave that for a future post.

(Looking for all our Palm Sunday sermon and worship resources? See our Palm Sunday Worship Guide→)

1. A Traditional Palm Sunday Processional (Plus a Twist)

Sometimes what’s old for some churches is new for others.

For those in less liturgical traditions, borrowing or adapting “old-school” traditions can be fresh and meaningful. And these are old, at least partly going back to some of our earliest sources on Christian worship in Jerusalem.

A great template for this service may be found in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. Even if you don’t use it verbatim, it provides a great structure to build on.

Vary it Up: Get Loud

Sometimes familiar liturgies can become a barrier to the reality behind the liturgy. That’s where changes can help teach lessons in new ways. 

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was boisterous. It was noisy, excited. It was through the city streets, not the interior of a church sanctuary. 

The result is memorable and it reminds us that the things we remember on Palm Sunday didn’t happen quietly in a church. They happened in broad daylight, “in living color.” (Please do consider your neighbors!)

Related Sermon Angle

Hosanna as Cry, Not Compliment

There is joy, to be sure, in the cries of “Hosanna!” But it is the joy of a person in desperation seeing a way out. Hosanna means, “Save us!” The people were hurting. They wanted to be saved. 

Today, we grow familiar with Jesus and sometimes forget that we, too, were in desperate need of salvation. And even if we are redeemed, we have suffering and troubles we need deliverance from. How can returning to the cries of a desperate people revive our love and appreciation for Jesus today?

2. A Prophetic Procession

God’s Word foretells the coming of a Messiah, humble, riding on a donkey

The gospel writers didn’t see Palm Sunday as an isolated event. Jesus fulfilled the words of the prophets and looked forward beyond Holy Week. This liturgical idea dramatizes that for the congregation.

This locates the Triumphal Entry between the Old Testament prophets and the rejection of Jesus by the people. It looks forward to Good Friday.

There are various ways you could adapt this procession. For example, if your church starts with a traditional procession with singing, a figure dressed as Jesus appearing before slowly advancing while scripture is read could be particularly powerful. Another option would be to have the person portraying Jesus read the passage from Luke from the front of the congregation. If you'd rather not have someone dressed up as Jesus, you could carry a symbol (a cross or crown of thorns, as in the next liturgical idea).

Related Sermon Angle

Jesus Weeping as the Center

Only Luke gives us the unique detail that Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. This is often overlooked. It is jarring after the cheers and shouting. What is it about Jerusalem that breaks Jesus’ heart? What does what Jesus say mean in light of the triumphal entry, the cleansing of the Temple, and the crucifixion? 

3. Procession: A Divided City, A Divided Heart

We are like both those who received Jesus and those who rejected his arrival

Palm Sunday is the paradoxical celebration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, knowing that in a few short days crowds will demand his death. 

The city that welcomed him was divided. Some saw him as the answer to their prayers — a Messiah to throw out their Roman overlords. Others benefitted from the status quo and feared what Jesus meant for their power and privilege. These crucified him.

This liturgy dramatizes those conflicts. But instead of facing the crowd with palms against the crowd demanding crucifixion, we remember the procession to the cross that gives us grace, in spite of our rebellion.

It is easy for the congregation to imagine that they are part of the crowd welcoming Jesus. But a vivid reminder of the real divisions within our own hearts is a good reminder as we enter Holy Week.

Related Sermon Angle

Our Divided Hearts

Each one of us is like the crowd. Even today, we greet Jesus with mixed hearts. We want a savior. But we also like to have things our way. We are slow to say, “not my will, but yours done, Lord.” (Luke 22:42) Our rebellion against God is what must face the cross. 

There is a challenge here on Palm Sunday to look at that part of ourselves that resists Jesus, that fights God’s will and to ask, how can we leave that at the foot of the cross?

4. Let the Palms Tell the Truth

Palms aren’t just celebration—they’re expectation and misunderstanding.

The crowds that welcomed Jesus expected many things. But none of them welcomed a Messiah they believed would be dead by the end of the week. Ultimately, the followers of Jesus had to release their expectations to welcome a Messiah who was much greater than they imagined.

Related Sermon Angle

Right Words, Wrong Expectations

Explore how the crowd’s theology is correct—Jesus is the Messiah. But help the congregation see where that picture is incomplete. What did the crowd think would happen next? What did the disciples think would happen? What did happen next? Why did it happen differently than they expected?

How do we impose “rules” about how Jesus is to behave? What are our expectations and which of them need to be released? 

5. The Sound Tells the Story

Palm Sunday should feel loud—and then uncomfortably quiet.

On Palm Sunday, we enter Jerusalem with joy, but we are headed for the cross. We can tell this story by moving from boisterous excitement to intentional and unmistakable quiet. Here are two ways of doing this.

Related Sermon Angle

What Fear Calls for Our Silence?

Make loudness and quiet part of the themes you discuss. On one hand, we have the people shouting. This makes the authorities very jumpy. In Luke 19:39-40, the Pharisees tell Jesus to quiet the crowd. Jesus replies that if they are silent, the stones will cry out. Why? What did they fear? What are the fearful voices trying to silence us today? 

6. Close with Holy Discomfort

Don’t resolve what the text doesn’t resolve.

We love a tidy ending. But Palm Sunday doesn’t offer an ending. It is the beginning of a story that only is resolved on Easter. Consider ways that you might end the service with the story unresolved and a feeling of incompleteness.

• End without a benediction or closing song. Leave an uncomfortable silence.

• Or offer a sending like:

  “Go with your palms still in hand… and follow where the road leads.”

The incompleteness of the service can be signaled in other ways, too. If you won’t have a Maundy Thursday service where the altar will be stripped, do that at the end of your Palm Sunday service.