Ideas for Easter 2006 #1

Artworks
A few years ago I was part of a small gathering of young adults who spent the Easter weekend at on retreat while staying on the property at Terrigal Uniting Church where we engaged in some of the significant worship experiences across the weekend and contributed to Sunday evening.
Over that weekend a local artist's work [who had been engaged over preceeding months] was used at the front of the worship space in different ways on different days.

On Good Friday we were invited to line up and stroll past the painting which broadly depicted a cricified Jesus in charcoals. We were offered a candle and a single rose. As you held the candle up to the picture it revealed a number of images in the background and a red colouring to some aspects. It was a very powerful space and activity.

On Saturday... nothing was up the front including the removal of all furniture and the cross that had been built and raised by attenders on Friday.

On Sunday night the vivid yellow picture was the Emmaus story and each of these pictures were a different interpretation on a famous picture from art history.

ALL OF THIS and some other examples I've seen reminds me of the power of the visual... whether represented as movies, audio-visuals, artspaces, sculptures etc... who has the gifts, who do you know or who is in your area who could be encouraged to provide you with artworks for reflection, public or private hall spaces for 'walk throughs' or practice of spiritual disciplines etc ??

We didn't get there this year BUT I harbour a thought of doing a public sacred space artspace in Newcastle for the weeks of Lent and opening it to the wider community to come and experience Lent/Easter in this way [not unlike Cityside Baptist Church in Auckland]
http://cityside.org.nz/node/22?PHPSESSID=89ce876ce5cd2293e4000195099ea5b9

I pictured a space set up with stations not unlike a display at the Powerhouse Museum where easels have background, questions, credits etc... looped music plays in more than one space, artworks or installations track you through aspects of the Easter story and you can spend as little or as much time as you like and redo the space also. You get a handout at the end not the beginning.

There might be reference to a website with a handful of worship services listed 'if people wanted to check this out further', websites or other similar resources so people could continue their reflections.

Music
Some tunes I'd use this Easter....
"Given to Fly" Pearl Jam
"Better Way" Ben Harper
"The Wonder" Alex Lloyd
"Hope & Validation" Bernard Fanning
"Ugly" Sugababes