Good Friday "options"

Here's a slide from a 'thinking outside the box' presentation I did last year. It's my worship options for Good Friday - the distance from my house and the time of worship. The picture represents where I am at that time on a public holiday.

It's almost as if for a special day we go to extra lengths to avoid any new people coming to church. We pick a really inconvenient time (from the public's perspective) and we seem to synchronise all our churches so that if you miss one you've missed them all.

As half our neighbourhood is still in their pyjamas, we've already packed up for the next two days.

So what did I do last year? I found a non-denominational group that meets in a park. From memory it was a 10am start but as it's outside, people are free to drift in (or out) at any time. There were some relevant songs played by a guitarist and a singer. Some Bible passages were read and some prayers prayed. Afterwards people could gather socially if they wanted.

Regardless of whether or not it was better than a traditional Good Friday service, it was at least 10 times more accessible to the general public.

Perhaps there are lessons to be learnt. Some that spring to mind are to be accessible, to be at a reasonable time and generally consider the needs of people. I note the number of strollers and kids - something that rarely happens in 'regular' church.

PS. See my Thursday update on this topic.