Holy Week and Easter at Duke Chapel

Click here to see the 2024 Holy Week and Easter Schedule.

UPDATE: The two services originally scheduled to be held outdoors—Good Friday Stations of the Cross and Easter Sunrise—will now be held inside Duke Chapel due to forecasts for wind and heavy rain.

Join us April 2–9, 2023, as we move through the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ with worship services and concerts during Holy Week and Easter. All services and events listed below are in Duke Chapel unless otherwise noted. Many of the services are livestreamed. Click the link for each service or event for details.

Throughout Holy Week, the Chapel is displaying the paintings of the Stations of the Cross by Margaret Adams Parker. The series of fourteen panels depicts Christ’s journey to the cross with contemporary figures rendered in muted browns. Parker focuses in these paintings on Christ’s strength in the face of suffering and the intimacy of his encounters with others on his Via Dolorosa (“Way of Suffering”).

Palm Sunday Worship Service

Sunday, April 2, at 11:00 a.m.

This service begins with a procession of the palms to recall the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The Rev. Dr. Sam Wells, vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, preaches. The Chapel Choir and Durham Children's Choir lead the music. See details.

Evensong Singers Concert: A Legacy of Love

Sunday, April 2, at 4:00 p.m.

The Duke Chapel Evensong Singers, directed by the Chapel's Dr. Philip Cave, present a concert of three masterful contemporary compositions for choir and organ with themes of sacrifice and offering. See details.

Holy Monday Noon Service

Monday, April 3, at 12 noon

The Holy Week noon services include scripture reading, prayer, and a sermon. For this service, the preacher is Dr. Angel Collie, director of the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity at Duke. See details.

Holy Tuesday Noon Service

Tuesday, April 4 at 12-noon

The preacher is the Mitchell Eithun, the Chapel's intern for worship and student engagement. See details.

Holy Wednesday Noon Service

Wednesday, April 5, 12 noon

The preacher is the William Cole, assistant director of student-athlete development for Duke Athletics. See details.

Holy Week Noon Service: Maundy Thursday

Thursday, April 6, at 12-noon

The preacher is the Rev. Theresa Bayless, senior clinical administrative chaplain at Duke University Hospital. See details.

Maundy Thursday Service

Thursday, April 6, at 7:00 p.m.

This service includes stripping of the altar and holy communion. The preacher is the Rev. Meghan Feldmeyer Benson, chaplain of Duke Divinity School. See details.

Good Friday Noon Service

UPDATE: Due to forecasts for wind and rain, this service will be held entirely inside Duke Chapel (instead of beginning outside)

Friday, April 7, at 11:30 a.m., beginning on the Chapel Quad

This service begins at 11:30 a.m. with a reflection on Christ's last days through readings, prayers, banners, and stylized reenactments. The service continueswith a simple, sparse liturgy of scripture and reflective music recalling the crucifixion and death of Jesus. The preacher is the Rev. Gloria Winston, executive director of the Wesley Campus Ministry at North Carolina Central University. See details.

Good Friday Tenebrae

Friday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m.

This service includes a progressive dimming of the lights within the Chapel until the congregation sits in darkness to remember Jesus’s death. Chapel Dean Luke A. Powery gives the sermon. See details.

Holy Saturday Concert

Saturday, April 8, at 4:00 p.m. in Goodson Chapel in Duke Divinity School

The Vespers Ensemble presents a concert in Goodson Chapel.

Easter Sunrise Service

UPDATE: Due to forecasts for heavy rain over the weekned, this service will be held inside Duke Chapel (instead of outside at Duke Gardens).

Sunday, April 9, at 6:30 a.m.

The guest preacher is the Rev. Dr. Edgardo Colón-Emeric, dean of Duke Divinity School, Irene and William McCutchen Professor of Reconciliation and Theology, and director of the Center for Reconciliation. See details.

Easter Day Service with Holy Communion

Sunday, April 9, at 9:00 a.m.

This service includes Holy Communion. Chapel Dean Luke A. Powery preaches and the Chapel Choir leads the music along with the Amalgam Brass Ensemble and Chapel organists. See details.

Easter Day Service

Sunday, April 9, at 11:00 a.m.

Chapel Dean Luke A. Powery preaches and the Chapel Choir leads the music along with the Amalgam Brass Ensemble and Chapel organists. See details.

Choral Evensong

Sunday, April 9, at 4:00 p.m.

Evensong at Duke Chapel follows the Book of Common Prayer, and features stirring choral and organ music of the English cathedral tradition, led by the Chapel's Evensong Singers. A talk before at the service at 3:30 p.m. provides historical and musical context for the service. See details.