Last week we partnered with two other churches in Grangetown (The Bay Church and Grace Church) to bring the Easter story to the Year 5 children in our local primary schools. Three schools came to our building and we took the event to a fourth school.
When it runs in our building, Easter Cracked starts with an introductory session about being eyewitnesses and a crazy video that tests the children’s observation skills. This then leads on to a session explaining how the gospels are eyewitness accounts that give a reliable record of the events of the first Easter. There is also a numeracy session that points out that the gospels are biographies of Jesus, but that they have a massive focus on the last week of his life. Astonishingly 40% of John’s gospel is taken up with this one week.
Then there is a tour around different rooms with the chance to meet different characters from the Easter story. There is John the disciple who talks about the triumphant entry and Passover; Judas who talks about some of the miracles Jesus did and then about how he betrayed him; Pilate, who boasts about his power and speaks of how he presided over the trial of Jesus; the Centurion, who talks about the crucifixion and the huge impact it had upon him, bringing him to confess that “truly this was the son of God”; Mary who witnessed the empty tomb and was the first to meet the risen Lord; and Thomas, the disciple who doubted and then came to believe Jesus really had risen from the dead, falling down and confessing him to be his “Lord and . . . God”.
There is also a session about the communion service and what the cross means for Christians today, and a session about some of the cultural things that relate to Easter, such as Easter eggs and Easter bunnies, and how none of that is actually in the Bible at all!
We were delighted to meet 141 children in total along with the staff and parents who accompanied them. A big thank you to the schools for taking part.