Easter Experienced

Details

Written by Richard Avery

As St Paul says:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever' Amen." (Ephesians 3:20,21)

God's presence was evident throughout the week, not least in the lives of the men and women from Trinity College. Those of you who were able to come to some of the Easter Experience events, know what a privilege it was to get to know the team members and be touched by their faith in Christ, their dedication and their humility. As some have said to me, if that's what the future vicars of the Church of England look like, we can have confidence for the years ahead.

It's hard to pick out parts of parts of such a rich and full week -for one thing I was not present at all events. But these anecdotes may give you a flavour of what happened or stimulate your own memories.

After the Berkeley Eleven service on Palm Sunday morning, one of our regular congregation came up to me and said: "That was great, it was like being at Spring Harvest." (Spring Harvest is a big Christian festival around Easter time that attracts thousands of people.) I agreed. The band, Jenny, Norm and the Trinity musicians, gave an extra dimension to the sung worship. Colin gave a memorable talk comparing Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to the coronation day for our Queen. When I heard afterwards that Colin had never done an all-age talk before, I was amazed. By lunchtime Palm Sunday, I knew this was going to be a special week.

On Tuesday Stone School staff gave us a generous time with the children and we began with songs in the hall and the team telling the children a bit about themselves. Matt was at his drum kit and said that he might let some of the pupils have a go on it. One little boy could hardly contain his excitement at the prospect. He was like a greyhound straining at the leash whilst he saw two others have a turn on the drums. Finally his moment came. His faced glowed and he thrashed the drums as if his life depended on it.

Things were a lot quieter in All Saints' Church that evening as we gathered in the candlelight for a quiet service of readings from the Gospel
Passion story and prayer. We sang chants from the Taize community with gentle acoustic guitar accompaniment. There was a strong sense of the presence of God and being drawn together before the Cross of Christ. Since then several people have mentioned that the Taize service was their highlight of the week.

Normally Maundy Thursday means joining fellow clergy for a lengthy service at Gloucester Cathedral, but instead I decided I should join the Trinity team for a work party at Hill churchyard. At first I was thinking that this was a much less spiritual activity than renewing my priestly vows in Gloucester. Then I thought about what Jesus did on that day when he took the servant's role and went round the room washing the feet of his disciples. There I was with a bunch of vicars-intraining doing battle with brambles, ivy and fence paint. It occurred to me that most of the people in Hill did not need their feet washed (correct me if I'm wrong!) but did need help getting the churchyard sorted. Suddenly it seemed a very appropriate way to spend Maundy Thursday.

Good Friday morning was miserable. Cold, overcast, and then the rain set in. By the time I'd recovered from handing out hot-crossed buns by Berkeley Town Hall, I walked over to St Mary's, wondering if any families had braved the elements to come to the Easter activities we had planned. I opened the door to find the church heaving with children and their parents. Never has St Mary's building felt so alive to me. It was obvious that the children had really enjoyed the activities. The Easter Garden looked great, many kids had fabulous face painting, the local crew and Trinity team seemed delighted with all that had happened.

The next day we were negotiating a tricky passage through a very muddy, flooded field gate on our way from Stone to Hill. It was like one of the obstacles on an army assault course, but we all made it through. Almost a whole week had gone by since the Trinity team first arrived. And now it was hard to tell who was from Bristol and who was from the local churches -not from the way we walked and talked together. It reflected the gifts of conversation and friendship that were such a special part of the week.

I was not brave enough to join the youth for their sleepover in St Mary's Church on Easter Eve. But I did go into the church as the evening was beginning. Some very excited girls rushed up to me to show me their tent, sitting on top of the pews! The next day I heard what a great time they had and, to my surprise, that they managed a few hours sleep before an act of worship and bacon butty breakfast at daybreak.

My big regret on Easter morning was that I couldn't be in three places at once. However, I did manage to be in Stone and Hill for uplifting worship and excellent attendance. The decorations were beautiful, but I was even more delighted to see the joy of Easter on people's faces. And the sun showed up.

Sunday evening gave us a final opportunity to enjoy the musical gifts of the team and give thanks to God for the Easter Experience. I was not quite sure who would come, but by 6.00 pm there were more people than I have ever seen at an evening service. The Trinity musicians did a wonderful job leading the singing (I know contemporary worship music is not everyone's preference, but it would be hard to better the way it was led). Later I learnt that the final song was recorded and posted on YouTube and the church website. But for me most moving of all were the words spoken by people from the churches when we had an 'open microphone' time. We heard how Easter Experience had touched people's lives. That's what Easter is about: the risen Jesus at work in our world. Now.

All that would not have been possible without the fantastic contributions that so many of you made. Hosting team members, feeding them, planning services, hosting events, baking, barbequing, washing up, organising activities in schools and churches, transporting a donkey, cleaning and decorating churches, helping with music, inviting friends. THANK YOU!

Since Easter we've talked about what happened but also considered where this points us to for the road ahead. Maybe that's for another letter next month. But for now we note that sharing with other churches and teams of Christians in worship and other special events can be immensely enriching. And that it can be good to try things we haven't done before, such as Taize worship or a pudding evening or reflecting on the dining plan of the Last Supper. Special activity times for children, families and young people give scope for sharing fun and faith in ways that are hard to achieve in the confines of church services. The stimulus to reach out to people beyond the boundaries of ordinary church life. And at the heart of it all is conversation, friendship, relationship .... with others, with God.

As one person said, the hand of God was in this: the right people at the right time in the right place. And I pray that the fruits of this will endure in the lives of our churches and of Matt, Wendy, Ben, Rich, Andrew, Jema, Jono, Neil, Colin, Phil and Chris.
Richard