The Palm Sunday Peace Parade

There are many ways to do a Palm Sunday Peace Parade, and we encourage each congregation or group of congregations to unleash their own creativity in developing this tradition in their community. I share our experience in Pasadena as one way to inspire and encourage even more creative expressions of the Palm Sunday Peace Parade.

We gather in a church in the economically marginalized part of our city, where some of us live. There we sing songs, introduce the various congregations and community groups in attendance, listen to a brief inspirational explanation of the parade, bless the parade with a prayer, and march out onto the sidewalk.

We march with palm branches, signs, peace flags, drums, and other instruments less than a mile to an upscale mall that represents the economic center of the city. This mall also represents the Temple, because it is a temple to consumerism which funds wars through an oppressive economic system. There we gather in a wide place on the sidewalk (the mall won't allow us onto their property); a team has gone ahead of us to set up a battery operated sound system. Having marched from the economic margins to the economic center of our community, we "confront" the principalities and powers with songs, prayers, and Gospel proclamation.

The parade is family friendly and has a celebratory tone. Some of our past worship materials and other documents plus pictures can be found below.

Some ideas to consider:

• In preparation for the parade, your congregation or planning team might want to do some study on the Palm Sunday story. Here are a few resources for study:
  • Binding the Strong Man by Ched Myers, pages 294-304
  • Leo Hartshorn's blog entry at http://leohartshorn.blogspot.com/2009/04/triumphal-entry-or-political-parody.html
  • A commentary by Lawrence Stone at http://lectionary.wolsblog.com/2009/03/31/commentary-and-reflections-liturgy-of-the-palms-b/
  • Dan Clendenin's reflection at http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20090330JJ.shtml
• Media coverage can greatly expand the witness of the event. Christian Peacemaker Teams provides clear and concise instructions at their website on how to work with the media:
  • http://www.cpt.org/files/public_witness/MediaWork.pdf and
  • http://www.cpt.org/files/public_witness/PressRelease.pdf

• 2009 worship sheet (21k PDF)
• April Fools for Christ March Through Pasadena: April 2007 media release (168k PDF)
• 2009 media alert
• Invitation (475k PDF)