96 Hours That Can Change You Too

Lewis Center for Church Leadership

by

Practicing Faith

Leading Ideas | March 31, 2026

As Holy Week approaches, many church leaders find themselves caught between the demands of planning meaningful worship and the deeper invitation of the story they are called to proclaim. In a season marked by intensity, expectation, and sacred responsibility, it can be easy to guide others through the journey without fully entering it ourselves. Jonathan Page offers four grounding reminders to help leaders not only lead well but also experience the power, presence, and promise of Holy Week in their own lives.

The Lewis Center for Church Leadership prays that you would have a full and meaningful Holy Week. As you lead the church on the journey to Easter, may you do so following in the footsteps of the Holy Spirit.

We call it Holy Week with good reason. Throughout the season of Lent, there is intention with every step along the journey toward the cross and empty tomb. For many church leaders, however, the fullness of Holy Week is found in the 96 hours that encompass Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. By the Wednesday of Holy Week, my suspicion is that whether you are preaching or praying, serving or strumming, cheering or cleaning, or offering some other form of leadership, you probably have a sense of what you are going to do if not an exact plan for how these next few days will go. For many leaders, there will be minimal rest, high stress, and the hope that people will encounter Jesus in transformative and impactful ways.

In times where you might have the ability to keep your mouth closed, open your soul to how God might be speaking afresh in you.

The challenge, however, can come for leaders to be able to experience the story of Holy Week themselves. So often, leadership means centering others, enabling people and communities to hear the Good News with fresh ears and perspectives. Don’t get me wrong, that centering and all the work that goes into Holy Week is holy work worth doing with excellence. In addition, however, my hope is that leaders might be able to not just give, but to receive during the coming 96 hours.

Here are four phrases for leaders to remember in the coming days that can allow us to experience the power of Holy Week, not just lead it:

1. The well-being of creation doesn’t depend on you.

Does the pressure of Holy Week feel like a lot? There are messages to prepare, carpets to be vacuumed, resources to compile, all in anticipation of a day when more people will attend worship services than almost any other time of the year. It is easy to feel like you are responsible for all of it, or at least well more than your fair share.

In his book Sabbath as Resistance, Walter Brueggemann writes about the seventh day of creation and the ability of God to rest. I love what he has to say about this holy day: “That divine rest on the seventh day of creation has made clear (a) that YHWH is not a workaholic, (b) that YHWH is not anxious about the full functioning of creation, and (c) that the well-being of creation does not depend on endless work.” It is unlikely that you are experiencing Sabbath rest as you read this; however, the maxims Brueggemann proposes remain true. While you may bear particular responsibility for elements involved with leadership of the church over these next hours and days, remember that the well-being of creation is not dependent on your endless work. Grace is sufficient, even for you.

2. Carry the posture of anticipation.

Church leaders have often rehearsed the stories of Holy Week. Whether it is the upper room, Golgotha, or the empty tomb, the story returns to the same place in the text year after year. Even if you don’t have a responsibility to proclaim the story, it is likely that it has some (or much) familiarity to you as a church leader. If we aren’t careful, that familiarity can cause contentment, relaxation, or even boredom.

Years ago, I was in a class where a student (I promise it wasn’t me!) was slouched down in his chair, eyes closed, clearly disengaged with whatever the teacher had to say. The teacher noticed, stopped talking, and slowly crept over to the student’s desk. When he arrived, he clapped his hands loudly and let out a blood-curdling scream. The student, quite literally fell out of his chair from being so startled. As he got back into the seat, the teacher said, “Remember two things: 1) don’t sleep in my class; and 2) your posture will always predict your activity.”

I’ve remembered that scene for some time, not only for the hilarity of it, but for the wisdom baked into this idea of posture as predictive of action. I don’t think this is only true for how we sit in a chair. Spiritually, if we are slouched in familiarity, we wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up going through the motions in another year of sameness. However, if we are postured toward anticipation, we are at the ready, excited to follow where the story might lead.

3. Listening is a virtue.

Many church leaders will have “up-front” responsibilities in the coming days. There will be messages to preach, liturgies to recite, songs to sing, and things to say. Don’t hesitate to hear what it is you are sharing with others. In times where you might have the ability to keep your mouth closed, open your soul to how God might be speaking afresh in you.

The most challenging communication tends to be when one party is waiting for their turn to speak instead of listening. Whether it is to you or to someone else, take the time to listen to the Good News over these next hours.

4. The Good News will always be good news.

No matter how perfect your sermon is, how in bloom the flowers are, or how sunny it is at sunrise, you are not charged with manipulating the text. The Good News we discover on Holy Week will always be good news because it is God’s news, shared so that we might share life in abundance. Lead well, of course, but know that if there is something misplaced, misspoken, or mistook, God will still be God, and the tomb will still be empty.

My hope and prayer for you is that your leadership would reflect the love and light of Christ in a full way over these 96 hours, and that as it does so, a generous portion might return to you to leave you filled, hopeful, transformed, and ready for that well-deserved nap.

Related Resources 

“This article is reprinted by permission from Leading Ideas, a free e-newsletter from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary and available at churchleadership.com.”

The Rev. Dr. Jonathan Page is the director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership. Previously he was director of Connection and Innovation for the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church and has served as a pastor in churches of a variety of sizes and contexts. Jonathan holds a Doctor of Education with a degree focus in Organizational Change and Leadership from the University of Southern California and a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School.