Good Friday at Shopping City

Good Friday at Shopping City

This year, I was asked to see if we could create a Good Friday event in Shopping City. With the agreement of the centre management, we are planning such an event.

It will be very different and comprise of a cross between a prayer-action and a re-enactment of the crucifixion. It will be missing most of the elements of a traditional Good Friday service.

We have a cross and a ‘Christ’. The Christ figure is constructed from tins and tubes, all destined for recycling or the rubbish tip, glued and strung together.

The idea is to fill the tubes with newspaper articles reporting on the brokenness in our world, written prayers for ourselves, others, the things that trouble us, images, photos that depict the brokenness of our society and world.

We will then affix the ‘Christ’ to the cross and set up for all to see.

In doing this activity, encouraging others to join in, we participate in a community of prayer for ourselves, our community and the world, focused through Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He was crucified on a rubbish tip outside the walls of the Holy City not just for the Jews but for all people throughout the world.

It gives us the opportunity to tell the good news of Jesus and share our stories with those we talk to. We may also have opportunity to pray with those who ask for prayer.

We want to do this beyond the wall of our churches to fulfil Hebrews 13:13, to make Christ known, even if it looks like foolishness.

We will start at 12pm on the Friday, in the square of shopping city, Runcorn. We don’t know exactly when it will be completed but we are aiming for about an hour. Some of us will continue to be present for a few hours afterwards to be available to meet with anyone who happened to be there and wants to talk or pray.

Before we finish, we will take down the ‘body’, wrap it in a cloth as a final part of the enactment, and then take everything away. We may leave the cross on display in The Box (a unit in Shopping city where the Sanctuary Chaplaincy have a base).

If you have any questions, please contact Deacon Tim Coleman.

Every blessing
Tim

Deacon Tim Coleman
North Cheshire Methodist Circuit
07780741129
Tim.coleman@methodist.org.uk