I love this stuff…

It has been a busy week! My experiences as the intern at the church have been great so far- I’m learning a lot of useful things and also having a great time.

These first two are actually not at my church. Dad and I headed up to Grand Rapids to help my brother out with “The Labyrinth”- an event that we started at our church a few years ago. Basically it takes you through Jesus final days in a very experiential way. Using your senses to watch Jesus’ pain, feel the thorns, hear the mocking, taste the vinegar (they put wine vinegar into a sponge and held it up for him to drink on the cross). It is a very powerful experience- it puts a reality into the story that is hard to get from simply reading. We’ve done it at least twice at our church, people are led down a path taped on the floor through various stages, interacting at each one before exiting. It is actually similar to the “Stations of the Cross” that the ministerial association sponsored (next post). All of this is to say that my brother pushed an effort to have this event at his own church this year and we went up to help set up and give ideas. We also took some materials from our own event. From what I heard, the response was very good. People were very moved by it. These are photos of the tomb- one of the last few stages of the Labyrinth.

We covered stacks of chairs with landscaping fabric to create the tomb- it had a great effect.

 

Here’s a shot of another station- The curtain (torn in two)- you watch a clip from The Passion of the Christ and walk through the curtain to see the cross, it is a powerful moment.

So it was an good trip! I think the Labyrinth was a great success. I’ve talked with my brother and I may be editing a promo video with footage he took to promote the event next year! Looking forward to it.