Today we had our first Easter Sunday celebration in the local park.
There were 2 families from our team as well as 6 families from the local area. With kids it meant there were around 35 of us in all. A big question was how to keep the integrity and significance of the Easter story when the majority of the group are not Jesus followers in the same sense as we are.
I am not one for imposing religious observance on anyone – we have seen the disastrous results of trying to make people conform to religious practices that their heart is not in. Yet… I sense the ‘kingdom is near’ to some of my neighbours and friends and we wanted to observe the significance of the Easter occasion.
We had a great brunch, had fun with easter eggs and had a pretty energetic soccer match then we created a simple reflective process for people to participate in. For those who are interested here’s what we did.
– I introduced ‘the cross’ by holding up a small cross and asking people what words they associated with it.
– I explained the significance of the cross – of Friday being forgiveness – of Sunday being hope
– We opened a bottle of red and broke a loaf of bread and as we did, spoke of the imagery of bloodshed and a broken body.
– People were invited to participate in communion if they wanted to.
– The cross was then placed in a nearby garden area with this image on it 
and people were encouraged to take the bread and wine and then go there to reflect for a few minutes.
– Most people chose to do this
– There were many interesting conversations that emerged from this experience
– We left the cross & image in the park so that others might discover it today.
The hardest part for me was shifting the conversation from the social and fun to something more focused. I know it was expected, but I still needed a few deep breaths to do it.
Why?
These people have become my friends – good friends and people I really want to share life with. I don’t want to be seen as another religious guy trying to impose stuff on them.
It would be great if we could share the journey of faith together and in one sense we are already doing that – but I want to do things as Peter spoke of ‘with gentleness and respect’