This week, the most significant days of the Christian calendar are being marked with a wide range of innovative services and events to help regular worshippers and those with less experience of church explore the story of Easter.
From video installations to Hot Cross Bun giveaways and chocolate fountains, Church of England churches are providing new ways of reflecting on the message of Jesus Christ’s dramatic death and resurrection.
One such innovation is a new take on the Stations of the Cross. A group of Christian multimedia artists in York have come together to create “Via Luminosa – the Easter story in Light”, which consists of 14 continuous video installations mounted on walls or projected onto freestanding structures. Visitors can either view one or take a tour of the whole city and visit all 14 Stations of the Cross.
In another expression, Birmingham Cathedral is using its frontage to create an outdoor Stations of the Cross display, using posters and artwork which have been added to the cathedral since Monday. The frontage will be completed with a poster of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. Canon Liturgist, the Revd Janet Chapman, said: “We hope the posters are a visible reminder to all who come to the city centre of the story of Holy Week – a story in which good overcomes evil, love overcomes fear and hatred, and life overcomes death.”
St Mary the Virgin Church in Burghill, Herefordshire is also putting on a display of 15 oil paintings by Dan Adams. Preb Jimmy Morrison, vicar of the church said, “These are no ordinary Stations, and these are no conventional images of Jesus either. They are powerful contemporary depictions of those terrible events seen through the eyes of a thoughtful 21st century agnostic.”
Churches marked Maundy Thursday, the day of the Last Supper before Christ’s crucifixion. To commemorate Jesus' act of washing the disciples feet, a number of Church of England bishops are taking to the streets of Bolton, Oldham, Manchester and London to provide shoe-shines for passers by.
The Bishop of Bolton, the Rt Revd Chris Edmonson, said, “When Jesus did acts of charity it stopped people in their tracks. Many people will be a little surprised to see a bishop offering to spend time cleaning shoes, but clergy are called to serve and this symbolic act is one way of demonstrating this. To serve is a command given to us by Jesus.”
Many churches and cathedrals also held special “Chrism Eucharist” services where clergy and readers renew their ordination vows and the oils used in baptism are blessed by the diocesan bishop. Churches across the country also held Communion services to mark the Last Supper, with many congregations re-enacting the Lord washing the disciple’s feet.
Today churches across the country will be holding special services to remember the trial, crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. Many will also be organizing processions through their towns and villages to spread the news of Christ on one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar.
