Take the story of Jesus out into the open
spaces and the streets of your own town and it comes alive in new and
unexpected ways. It is a reminder that
the living Jesus has to do with us today and with our community. See where we set our Passion Play and then
ask yourself where you would locate the story of Jesus in your own
community. Make a story board and plan
a Passion Play for your own community.
A Park
The movement of twinning towns in different
countries started after the war. It was
an attempt to heal the wounds of war by creating ties of friendship. Sandford Park has features linked with
Cheltenham’s twin towns and a Friendship Circle commissioned from South African
born Neville Gabie. We located Jesus’ teaching about love not only for neighbours,
but for enemies too and his willingness to extend the hand of friendship across
the divide of race, gender and creed in
this Friendship Park. It brought home
how vital that teaching still is in our divided world. Where would you set the teaching of Jesus in
your community?
A Church and a Shopping Centre
We presented the cleansing of the Temple in
the courtyard outside Cambray Baptist Church in Cheltenham town centre. It made us think about the way in which the
institutional church often finds it difficult to cope with the unexpectedness
of Jesus’s teaching. We then went into
the busy shopping streets of the town centre and shared in the Last Supper
outside Burger King: it is a shock to realise that our Town centre is free of
shoppers only on Christmas Day!
Shouldn’t there be space for other activities on the shopping streets of
a town ... let only for a deeper, spiritual dimension to life?
The Council Offices
To be part of the crowd standing on the
steps of the Municipal Offices watching Jesus condemned to death, makes you
wonder whether you would have the courage to stand out against a crowd - how
would the authorities cope with Jesus today ... are they challenged to change
their priorities by us who claim to follow in his footsteps? Where would you locate the betrayal, and the
trial of Jesus in your community?
The Scaffold
The sheer cruelty of crucifixion is easy to
forget. It comes home to you when you
are standing at the foot of a rough and ready scaffolding stage. The mechanism we used for the crucifixion
scene was based on one originally used for the Mystery Plays in Coventry
Cathedral. Locate it in the Imperial
Gardens behind the Town Hall and the timelessness of the cross and its
significance not just at a personal level but for a whole community, comes
alive. How and where would you stage the
crucifixion?
A Garden
The small, walled garden where Jesus was
laid to rest, has become for many who shared in the Easter Celebration a place
to be reminded of the reality of resurrection and the hope it brings. It is an invitation too for all who are
bereaved to remember the Easter story and realise that every place of burial is
at the same time a reminder of resurrection.
What place in your community would you choose to bring home to people the
message of the Resurrection?
