Several years ago my wife and I were invited to attend a community Seder at a local Synagogue. We had never heard of this tradition, and were eager to find out more. We were so glad we went — it was truly a moving experience. The symbolism of the event stuck with us, and we felt a profound connection to the biblical account of the exodus and the characters in that story.

Right away, my wife and I began researching how this might look with Christians. We found out that lots of Christian’s host Seders with an emphasis on Jesus. The next year, we attended a few local churches that hosted Seders led by Messianic Jews. These were rich experiences that added an entirely new layer of meaning for us, revealing the depth of fulfillment Jesus provided and the symbolism in the Last Supper. We were convinced this was something we needed to try with our youth group.

So we began planning our first Seder for our youth group. We combined our experiences with resources we found on the Internet to create a plan. The meal and experiential elements came together with some work, but was it was not complicated.

The biggest challenge for me was to overcome my fear of doing it wrong. I am not a biblical or Hebrew scholar, nor did I have much experience with Jewish traditions. I was intimidated. At first I planned to bring in a person more qualified to lead it, but all the Seders we’d been a part of that were led by professionals were a little dry, complicated and inaccessible.

So I began reading and studying as much as I could about leading a Seder. I ended up writing my own Haggadah — which comes from the Hebrew word for telling or explaining — a booklet that contains the reading parts (liturgy) and instructions to follow through the entire Messianic Seder experience. I could not find an existing Haggadah that I felt was accessible to students and to those of us who were completely unfamiliar with this tradition.

The youth leaders, my wife and I put so much work in creating our Seder to be a special celebration. We prepared a full meal along with all of the special elements included in a Seder. We decorated the room with candles and table clothes. It is was important to us that the environment communicated that this was not like any other night. This was sacred.

As our students entered the room, they were really surprised. The couldn’t believe we had created this just for them! About 15 students and eight adults found their places at the big table. They wanted to fidget with all of the interesting items on the table. They began asking questions such as, “Why do we have four cups?” and “Is this horseradish?”

I was a little surprised that one of my students, Levi, brought a friend. As soon as we sat at the table, I noticed Levi’s friend was wearing a kippah (a Jewish cap). I felt all the of the blood leave my brain. I worried, “Oh no, he is going to tell all of my students that I really don’t know what I am doing!”

I pulled the young man, named Steven, aside and said, “Hey, I am so glad you are here. I am not sure if Levi told you that this is a Messianic Seder, so we are going to focus a lot on how Jesus is the Messiah and how He fulfilled prophecy. Will that be offensive to you? I completely understand if you don’t want to participate. Do you want to look through the Haggadah ahead of time?”

Stephen replied matter-of-factly, “I knew that when I came in. It is OK I want to learn.”

I said, “OK, that’s good. Well, I want to learn, too. I hope you will see tonight how much I and our group respect you traditions and find them vital to our spiritual understanding; but this is my first time leading this, so I bet I get a lot wrong. Be gentle with me, OK?”

Stephen answered, “No problem. Every Seder I’ve been to has been different. It’s all good!”

That night ended up being one of the most meaningful nights I have ever had in youth ministry. It seemed the Seder helped us to connect with our spiritual family tree and put ourselves into the story of the people of Israel. The symbols painted a powerful picture of how Christ’s sacrifice is woven into the story of Israel and created profound imagery revealing how Jesus brought to all of us completion and redemption.

Stephen only corrected my pronunciations a few times and really enjoyed himself! We all celebrated, singing Jewish choruses and songs and eating kosher food. We stayed late eating macaroons and thick chocolate Passover brownies. Yum!

For me, this was the beginning of embracing one of the world’s oldest traditions as my own. The combination of sight, sound, smell, food, words and imagination creates an unforgettable learning experience and lasting impression that continues to shape my life and the life of my group year after year.

I continue to update and improve the Haggadah I created. It includes complete instructions, readings, supply lists and recipes for a Messianic Seder. If you are interested you can check out a sample or purchase some here.

Michael Novelli continually seeks the most effective ways to help people learn. This passion led him to explore experiential teaching methods for 13 years as a church youth pastor. Now, Michael’s full-time focus is to create learner-centered events, resources and curriculum for ministries and educators. He is founder of Echo the Story, a ministry that explores the art of Bible storying. Michael, his wife Michele, and children Angelo and Abrielle live in Elgin, Illinois.