Good Friday for Evangelicals – Celebrations and Events

The celebrations alluding to Holy Week are rites practiced for many years by the Catholic Church. However, Good Friday for evangelicals is just another holiday of the year, where they take the opportunity to preach the gospel of Christ.

Contrary to what happens among Catholics, the Evangelical Church does not change its schedule due to the Easter period, nor does it establish a specific schedule for Holy Week.

In the understanding of Protestants, it is necessary that the meaning of the paschal be constantly debated among Christians. That’s one of the reasons they don’t emphasize Good Friday.

Good Friday for Evangelicals

According to the pastors, the practices of Good Friday carried out by Catholics do not bring spiritual benefit, because to obtain it, prayer, fasting and charity every day are necessary.

In the understanding of the Evangelical Church, the biblical meaning of Easter has been distorted by the media and by a large part of the Christian population, being rich in pagan symbologies.

Among the pagan symbols cited by evangelicals are the Easter Bunny and chocolate eggs.

The egg and the rabbit are symbols that came from ancient peoples such as the Egyptians and the Persians. In these cultures, eggs were dyed and given to friends. The Chinese, on the other hand, used eggs at nature renewal festivals.

For the Evangelical Church, these pagan symbols take away the true meaning of Easter, which is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Another point raised by evangelicals for not celebrating Easter is that the celebration held today does not resemble the biblical Easter.

For them, the true Passover was consummated when Christ was crucified on the cross. Therefore, their celebration would no longer make sense.

Good Friday according to evangelicals is a cultural celebration.

Another factor that leads evangelicals not to celebrate Good Friday is the uncertainty about the date of Christ’s death and resurrection, as the calendar used at the time was quite different from our current calendar.

Gospel Events on Good Friday

During Holy Week, evangelical celebrations take place normally, without changing their routines. According to the pastors, the life and ministry of Jesus Christ is constantly looking back, including this week.

Messages at services are often themed, emphasizing the ministry of Jesus Christ. The memorial of the Lord’s Supper is also celebrated.

This is a period when the Evangelical Church uses itself to explain to people the true meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection, which should bring joy and hope to everyone.

The Lord’s Supper is celebrated monthly in the Evangelical Church. It usually takes place on the first Saturday or first Sunday of each month.

The celebration represents the great feast of life, the concrete hope for the salvation of humanity lost in its sins.

On Good Friday itself, a national holiday, there are normally no celebrations in evangelical churches. The faithful are released to enjoy the holiday. Thus, they usually travel, stay with their families and have a closer relationship with the Lord.

It is a date when there are youth retreats, as well as those held during the Carnival period.

• Learn how Candomblé practitioners celebrate Good Friday

Do Evangelicals Eat Meat on Good Friday?

On Good Friday it is not common for Catholics to eat red meat. But for evangelicals this is not part of the word of God. For them, the act is a religious culture, invented by people.

According to the pastors, there is nothing written in the Bible that prevents eating meat. Fasting is considered something very personal. Thus, they practice biblical fasting that is timeless. Fasting, according to evangelicals, has specific and non-traditional purposes.

For members of the Evangelical Church, it is not forbidden to eat anything. According to the pastors, what harms a man is not what goes into his mouth, but what comes out of it.

However, evangelicals do not condemn members who only eat fish for the day.

Jewish Passover

Good Friday for evangelicals is a Jewish tradition. Thus, the Evangelical Church believes that Protestants should not live according to Jewish tradition, since for them Christianity marks the time of grace.

According to the pastors, the Bible itself criticizes the tradition followed by the Jews. Passover was celebrated by the Jews in the desert, later it became a tradition.

For evangelicals, it wasn’t Christians who killed Jesus, it was Jewish tradition. Jesus was killed because he overstepped the bounds of that tradition.

The Evangelical Church still preaches that the real Passover represents the biblical passage where Moses leads God’s people out of the land of Egypt. However, when Jesus came to earth, he ended the tradition, replacing Passover with Holy Communion.

Now that you know what Good Friday is like for evangelicals, understand the meaning of the celebrations held on that date by Catholics.