| Here
at St Cuthbert’s we have
been hosting Experience
Easter for local school
children for the past
four years. The story
goes back a long time to
the day when Sister
Penny Horseman C.A.
first saw “Experience
Easter set up in a
church. “I thought it
was such a good idea”,
said Penny. “Set up six
places in your church to
look like events from
Holy Week and invite
children to come in and
hear the story told,
while sitting inside the
event. I had wanted
to try it for years. It
started in the
Gloucester Diocese and
had spread worldwide.
Penny
also thought that it
would add to the
children’s experience
if the adult helpers
from the church
dressed in Biblical
costume.
When
they arrived the
children were divided
up into small groups,
given a card to
collect picture stamps
at each place they
visited and set off to
tour the church.
After
five places had been
visited the whole
class gathered at the
East End of the church
to hear the
Resurrection story
together. “I told the
children when they
first arrived that
some parts of the
story are sad but that
we would all be
joining together for
the happy ending. I
think it is important
that the Easter story
is handled sensitively
but honestly with
children” said
Penny.
There
was time in the small
groups for children to
express what they felt
about the story as
well as to do an
activity that was
meaningful for their
age group. Experience
Easter has been put
together by
educationalists from
the Diocese of
Gloucester so is
appropriate to the
children and to the
school curriculum.
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