The Easter Journey

Over three days in March (28th, 29th and 30th) the children’s ministry team took approximately 250 local schoolchildren from several schools on the Easter journey, which was brought to life by puppetry, acting, storytelling, and included audience participation.

The journey started with Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem in which the children were part of the crowd waving their palm leaves. The temple scene was next and was a particular favourite as the children had the opportunity to act as well as be noisy…..until Jesus stepped in and turned the tables in anger. This was not the gentle Jesus they had expected to see. After listening to the story about the stone the builders had rejected the children were invited to be guests at the last supper, another favourite interactive scene.

The Garden of Gethsemane was a place of quiet reflection and the children listened to different sounds which were all relevant to the story. The mood became more sombre as they sat at the foot of the cross and heard Mary talk of her sadness brought on by the death of her son. Peter also explained how he had let Jesus down and how confused he was by the events that had just happened. The sombre mood continued through the day in between until the children ended their journey in the beautiful Easter garden that embraced an atmosphere of hope. The joy returned as they heard about the resurrection and the children were left in no doubt that Jesus is alive. Halleluiah!

It was a privilege for all involved to share the Easter story with so many children and teachers. Already, we have received letters of thanks and we hope to display them in church on Sunday. Please take time to read a few of them as they are a real encouragement to all of us.