Goodside

Easter season has come and gone, but I still wanted to share a couple of my recent Easter season projects with you and give some insight into things that have been sparking life and hope in me along the way. Let’s start with GOOD FRIDAY, shall we?

Full Disclosure: I didn’t grow up celebrating GOOD FRIDAY, and even in the beginnings of my faith journey, GOOD FRIDAY was not on my list of prioritized religious events to participate in. In fact, before this past year, I would have vehemently stated (like the kid in The Polar Express), “Good Friday just doesn’t work out for me.” Granted, every experience is what you make of it, and I’m sure a deeply emotive, heavily dramatized, somber, silent GOOD FRIDAY really helps to reinforce the faith experience of some, it just isn’t so for me. I only began coming more aware of the ceremonial aspect of it from the church I previously attended in Seattle. My past GOOD FRIDAY service experiences in these recent years has left me feeling confused, apathetic, and kind of freaked out. Having lived most of my early life surrounded in despair, hopelessness, and darkness, I personally don’t choose to continually surround myself in experiences that herald such emotions, especially in a season of new life like Easter. Again, “Good Friday just doesn’t work out for me.” At least that was the case until this past year when I got to see it from a different perspective and shared a different, more hopeful experience with others.

Good Friday Stations set up in the auditorium

Last month, I had the opportunity to participate in creating and organizing a collaborative GOOD FRIDAY service at Eikon Church. For a month or so, I sat at a conference table with our Lead Pastor, Creative Arts Intern, and two other Lead Pastors from local churches. Together, we combined our minds, hearts, and resources to host a special service for all of our faith communities to participate in. We decided to focus on The Stations Of The Cross and to make it an interactive experience. There was a lot of brainstorming on how to help each station ‘come to life’ and what those attending would do at each station to interact with the truths we were presenting at each of them. We leaned into supplemental artwork in a collection called Stations In The Street by a very talented artist named SCOTT ERICKSON to illustrate the guiding posters at each station. Each Pastor submitted write-ups and instructions for the stations that their churches would ‘host’ (Read: were in charge of creating) and I used those to create a unified look for each of the posters, our community offering signs, and the Station Guide card that was handed out to each person at the beginning of the service. As I prayed over each design element and allowed each element to speak to my own heart in the process, I discovered deep gratitude for the sacrifice that Christ made to give me a hope and future.

Station Guide Card provided to each person, along with a pen to write down thoughts from their experience as they moved from station to station.

What I loved most about this interactive experience was that we intentionally created stations that people of almost all ages could participate in. (We did provide childcare for those 2 years and younger.) We felt that it was important for this to be a family experience where younger kids could be a part of the story of redemption that Jesus lived out all those years ago. We started the service with a time of praise and worship, continued into time for folks to visit the stations, and ended with communion and another worship song. All those who attended said that it was a refreshing take on GOOD FRIDAY, and many were moved to tears at the beautiful gift of Jesus’ sacrifice. They loved sharing the experience with their families and friends and were able to have discussions around how the stations came to life for them.

A woodworker in our church handcrafted our new communion trays and they are so lovely!

As I walked through and experienced the stations on my own, I felt more connected to the redemptive narrative of what GOOD FRIDAY is. Journeying from station to station allowed me to meditate on each step that Jesus took and to personally seek His truths and promises to apply to my life in the here and now. I left the service more hopeful, with a more vibrant faith, and a strong sense of unity shared with others in our local community. Maybe GOOD FRIDAY is for me after all!

HERE ARE SOME OF THE ELEMENTS USED IN OUR EXPERIENCE:

Our community offering went to support efforts to be a blessing and benefit to Hays County in a greater capacity.