“It’s not just about something that happened 2,000 years ago. It’s something that’s changing people’s lives now.” Ahead of Holy Week, Rye’s Baptist minister Fiona Gill has been telling Rye News about the importance of Easter.
“The world as a whole tends to make a lot more of Christmas than Easter, not always for faith reasons of course. If you took Christmas out of the Bible, you’d lose a few chapters at the beginning of the gospels of Matthew and Luke. If you took out Easter, you would lose most of the gospels and all of all of the New Testament. There wouldn’t be a Christianity at all without Easter.”
The church on Cinque Ports Street is being laid out for next week’s services. There are no pews in the main hall, which is upstairs and has tall clear windows. At the front a lectern is ready for Rev Gill to lead worshipers. Good Friday is time for reflection she says. “Jesus showed us how to live a perfect life but he was also willing to give his life as a sacrifice on the cross for all of humankind. We usually have a big cross in the middle of the church with the chairs all around the outside. We literally ponder the story of one of the gospels about Jesus’ crucifixion and how hideously he was treated. We reflect on all of that.”
The Good Friday service begins at 10am on April 18, followed by coffee and hot cross buns. The congregation then walk to Rye’s Citadel to meet with the town’s other churches. At noon they will walk, carrying a cross, around Rye finishing across the road from the Baptist church for readings and prayers.
For Rev Gill it’s a very special moment. “We follow the cross and we have a drum beating as we walk behind it in silence. It’s a really powerful thing with all the churches joining in. There’s something about parading around the streets of Rye which feels like walking the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem because the streets are also narrow.”
The service on Easter Sunday begins at 10:45am and is much more of a celebration. “People who come here have a very real experience of coming to know Jesus through the worship, but there is also the realization that Jesus died for them so that they could have a fresh start in life and that he rose again to give us hope. As Christians, we hope things are going to get better and that we can be part of making it better. So we always have a very uplifting and exciting service on Easter Sunday morning.”
She says the Easter message is still relevant. “We live in a Good Friday world where Jesus died. It was hideous with people turning against each other and all sorts of unjust and unfair things going on. But we can be part of making it better. We’ve got a vision that one day Jesus is going to make it all right but he’s called us to be part of that journey. So ever since he rose again two thousand years ago, Christians have worked for good in the world to counter injustice.”
The way Rye’s churches work together is also important. “We have a great relationship between us all. I’ve never lived or worked anywhere like Rye for the way all the churches support each other. For example we run the food bank downstairs but it’s all the churches in Rye working together to serve the community. Helping the people who have don’t have enough to eat or need help with their benefits. We feel that’s our bit of trying to do some good in the world.”
You can find out more about Rye Baptist Church and the services over Easter here. The church is also open every market day.
Image Credits: James Stewart .