Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter, believed to be the day when Jesus celebrated his final Passover with His disciples.  

Christ's "mandate" that was given then is commemorated on Maundy Thursday---"maundy" being a shortened form of mandatum (Latin), which means "command."  It was on the Thursday of Christ's final week before being crucified and resurrected that He said this commandment to His disciples. Jesus and his disciples had just shared what was known as the Last Supper and he was washing their feet when he stated:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34). The Maundy Thursday Service will be a shared Tenebrae worship with Trinity United Methodist Church.  Tenebrae is a religious service of Western Christianity held during the three days preceding Easter Day, and characterized by gradual extinguishing of candles, and by a "strepitus" or "loud noise" taking place in total darkness near the end of the service.  Congregants from both churches will be reading Scripture during the service.