The Easter Experience
We celebrated Easter by holding some special services at St Michael’s during Holy Week 2016. Cottingley residents and regular congregation members came together to experience a joyful and inspiring Easter.
Starting our Holy Week services on Wednesday we held a special service called “Come walk with me” - a time of meditation and reflection using music, song, words and pictures to walk with Jesus through the events of Holy Week.
This was followed by Maundy Thursday which is the day we remember the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples. As we entered the building in the evening, it was a beautiful, touching and breath-taking sight to find the church laid out with white tablecloths and candlelight, ready for us to be guided through the events of the Last Supper. There was a special table in the middle for the children where they were absorbed in activities throughout the evening which reflected the theme of the service. It was a moving occasion where we were reminded about the importance of community and how it would have felt to have been part of the community at Jesus’ last supper. As well as sharing bread and wine with each other we also shared a wonderful hot supper prepared for us all by Chef Robin Wraith.
Our events continued on Good Friday where there was a great turnout for our hot cross buns and activity morning. The church was full with local people who joined us and it was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and neighbours for a chat. A backdrop of Easter films was shown throughout the morning which set the scene, and the children had a great time exploring Easter through craft and activities.
Later that day we then had a time of reflection on what the Easter story means through meditations, music and silence at the Hour at the Cross service.
We came together once more to celebrate the true meaning of Easter at our uplifting Sunday Service. We began outside in the sensory garden where the wind did not deter us from lighting the first fire of Easter! We then moved inside the church and members of the congregation performed a drama about what happened when Jesus’ tomb was found to be empty. The drama had an alternative ending where we were challenged to think about what might have happened if the followers had kept Jesus’ resurrection a secret. What would have happened if they hadn’t spread the news …? We then all lit a candle as a reminder to take the light out into the world and spread the good news.
