‘Unlike Christmas, with all its many special services and events, Easter these days has lost its public nature and become very much something for church people only,’ says Rector of Kirkheaton, the Revd Richard Steel. ‘We wanted to both get out into the community and to stage a special event that people would be interested to come too - and we thought some of the successful things that happen at Christmas would be a good model.’
The first event is a Prayer Walk, on Easter Eve, March 26. ‘Walking the roads of the community singing carols at Christmas has long been popular,’ says Naomi Sharp, Lay Minister of Kirkheaton United Church. ‘This year for Easter we thought we’d walk and pray.’
‘I think we often go from A to B without really seeing our own community,’ she continues. ‘A prayer walk is a way of taking time to see, and be grateful, and ask God's blessing on the people of the community.’
‘And we’d love people to join us,’ Says Rector of Kirkheaton Parish Church, the Revd Richard Steel. ‘This is open to anyone, whatever church they go to, or indeed if they don’t. So many people pray, so we thought we’d provide an opportunity for them to pray for their local community.’
And on the evening of Easter Day there is a special event following the pattern of the increasingly popular Readings and Carols by Candlelight.
‘The church is always packed at Christmas for this atmospheric event,’ says the Revd Richard Steel, ‘and the simple format of the readings and carols helps people explore the story afresh each year. We thought this was a good model to adopt for this new Easter event.’
‘As at Christmas we will be mixing Bible readings that tell the story with other readings and poems, great traditional Easter songs that people know well and some new music. And as at Christmas, we’ll finish with a drink and some snacks - with Hot Cross buns replacing the mince pies!’
‘We hope these two events will help people discover the importance of Easter afresh and see that the story of Jesus’ Resurrection is something that everyone can celebrate,’ he concludes, ‘as we believe this event affected the whole world for good, not just those who go to church.’
The Prayer Walk begins at 10.15 am on Saturday, 26th March, at the United Church on New Road, Kirkheaton and ends at the Parish Church, Church Lane. The Easter ‘Songs of Praise’ will be at 6 pm on Sunday 27th at the Parish Church. Everyone is very welcome to either.