By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

EVANSTON - Christians all over Greater Cincinnati will start their Sunday morning services this week outside and march into their sanctuaries carrying palm leaves - a practice renewed more than 50 years ago from early Christianity.

"There's a liturgical renewal, not only in the Roman Catholic Church, but also in a lot of Protestant churches, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, that looks back before the Middle Ages to the third and fourth centuries," said Father Leo Klein, a Jesuit priest and professor of theology at Xavier University.

Klein said Christian practices during Holy Week and on Palm Sunday among many Christians have come back to those older practices and are about more than just remembering Jesus' entry into Jerusalem as described in Scripture.

"More than a commemoration, this is something very alive today, and Christ lives in us today, and we are reliving his steps," he said. "It's saying that Christians are going through the journey of the Holy Week events. And Palm Sunday begins that journey."

While Catholics and some Protestants will start the day that begins Holy Week separately, one group, Transformation Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, hopes to bring people together at 4:44 p.m. on Palm Sunday, regardless of denomination for a prayer for the city at Xavier University's Cintas Center.

"If people come together, no matter the number, to pray for the city, we've done what God has asked us to do, and that's a success for us," said D.J. Weiss, 40, of White Oak. Weiss is a volunteer with the organization, which has also sponsored prayer at Great American Ball Park and the Loveland High School football stadium.

After Sunday, many churches will resume Holy Week observations on Holy Thursday, also known as Maundy Thursday, in which the Last Supper and Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet is remembered. But the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains downtown has a unique service on Holy Wednesday as well.

The Tenebrae, Latin for "darkness," introduces the following holy days with prayer, scripture, music and chanting and begins at 7:30 p.m.

And on Easter, many Christians will return to traditions of early Christianity by attending sunrise and early morning services. One of the oldest is the service at Arlington Memorial Gardens, celebrating its 46th year, at 7 a.m. on the South Lawn of Arlington Lake in the gardens, 2145 Compton Road, Springfield Township.

LENTEN MUSICALS: The Lakota Hills Baptist Church, 6300 Tylersville Road, West Chester, will present Like a Lamb, an Easter Cantata, at 7 p.m. today and 6 p.m. Sunday.

The Forest Dale Church of Christ, 604 W. Kemper Road, Springdale, will perform Cross Purposes, a theatrical celebration of Easter week, today and Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

At Lakeside Christian Church, 195 Buttermilk Pike, Lakeside Park, about 150 people in the cast and choir will present The Servant of All, an Easter musical, at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Sunday and April 9-10.

At nearby Lakeside Presbyterian Church, 2690 Dixie Highway, 10 youth group members will perform a free production of Godspell at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and at 7 p.m. April 10.

And at 6 p.m. April 10, The Sanctuary Choir of the First Baptist Church of Greenhills, 11195 Winton Road, will present the Passion, Death and Resurrection portions of Messiah by George F. Handel.

All of the events are free and open to the public.

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To submit religion news, e-mail kvance@fuse.net