Palm Sunday: Project points to the cross

By Linda M. Linonis

The Disciples of Christ congregation has made various craft projects as reminders of the significance of the Lenten season.

BOARDMAN — When members of Disciples Christian Church receive palm crosses today at the Palm Sunday service at 10:30 a.m. today, they’ll be getting what the Rev. Thomas Madden, interim pastor, calls “living reminders.”

He said he discovered the term in a book by Henri J. Nouwen, a spiritual writer. “The day of Palm Sunday is a living reminder of what God is about,” he said. “It shows us how God works and what ultimately matters.”

Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The story relayed in the Gospels tells how Jesus rode a donkey into the holy city, where the crowds spread their cloaks and palm branches on the street. Last Wednesday, about 10 members of the Disciples of Christ congregation got together to make crosses crafted from palms. “We’ve been doing this about 20 years,” said Pat Layda, who is one of the project coordinators. She credited her husband, the late Lou Layda, with getting the project started. “He was good at figuring things out.”

Layda orders the palm stems from a florist. A couple of volunteers separate the palm strips, and the work begins. “We use the length of the palm to make a cross,” Layda said. “Each one has an individual look.”

Layda spends some time refreshing workers’ memories on how the crosses are made. “There are smaller ones and big ones. Each person’s turns out a little different.” It’s a matter of folding the palm, wrapping it over diagonally to the “back” then crossing over to the other side, which becomes the front of the cross.

Dottie Johnson said church members have worked on various craft projects for Lenten seasons. “I think it helps us remember the story and sacrifice,” she said.

Barbara Hall, a member, made pins with nails to remember Christ on the cross; Donna Gaier made windsocks with six purple ribbons to signify Christ’s Passion and the six weeks of Lent, and one white ribbon to signify the Resurrection; and Bonnie Hess made necklaces with nails. In fact, retired pastor Elliott Dietrich, a church member, said he wore his necklace again this Lent and is it “quite a conversation piece.”

During Lent, members also have met Wednesdays for dinner and devotions. Using the “Gospel According to Mayberry” video program, the participants discuss the moral messages in the popular TV series from the past.

Mary Jane Harbison, who also helped make crosses, said. “These things are reminders of what Palm Sunday means and what the Lord did for us.”

Jenny Cross and her 8-year-old son, Jared, also participated. Jared’s job was to count how many crosses were made while his mother helped make them. She’s a Sunday school teacher at the church.

“In Sunday school, we’ll be making newspaper palms,” she said.

Cross said at the Palm Sunday service, children will carry larger palms into the sanctuary. They’ll be dressed in simple, sacklike garments with a rope tie.

“We’re a small congregation, but people are so enthusiastic and involved,” she said. “I think it’s part of a good Christian education to integrate children into the worship service.

The church will hold a Maundy Thursday Tenebrae service with Holy Communion at 7 p.m. A soup and bread dinner will be at 6 and feature a demonstration of the Seder feast.

Disciples Christian Church is the merger of Boardman Christian Church, which was at the Boardman-Canfield Road address, and First Christian Church, 562 Wick Ave., Youngstown. The congregations first worshipped together in November 2004; on June 4, 2006, the churches held a celebratory service marking the official merger.