In general, the tradition of Holy Saturday (the day between Good Friday and Easter) is not observed among the independent churches. Yes, Good Friday ends in tragedy. But thank God, there is great rejoicing on Easter Sunday. But how is Good Friday connected to Easter Sunday if we have no idea about what is happening on the day between them? The unexplained hiatus creates a sense of awkwardness.
I strongly recommend Alan Lewis’ profound book, Between the Cros and Resurrection: A Theology of Holy Saturday (Eerdmans, 2001) which I found stimulating and helpful when I preached on Holy Saturday in a series of Easter sermons in 2014.
The average reader will find it hard to wrestle with the complex and contentious theological debate between “classical theism” and contemporary “theistic personalism or mutualism.”
A simpler entry point can be found in Matt Emerson biblical meditation, Echoes of Holy Saturday in the Old Testament.
May the independent churches recover the spirituality of waiting through the good tradition of Holy Saturday.