Ilkeston - Easter Joy
w/e 27 March 2016
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
This year's Silent Walk of Witness on Good Friday took the theme
of "Easter joy begins here!" and a large number of
people from all the churches across Ilkeston came together prior
to the walk for a service in St Mary's Church.
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They then gathered together on the Market Place for a further
reading and then sang "The Lord's my Shepherd" before
forming into a column two-abreast for the walk down Bath Street.
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The procession to the solitary beat of a single drum was headed
by a wooden cross and the walkers headed for the junction with
East Street in silence, passing through the Friday market where
daily life went on unabated just as it had all those years ago
when Jesus walked to Calvary.
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Pausing outside Lloyds Bank at the end of East Street, the hymn
here was "Give me oil in my lamp".
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As the procession continued down Bath Street the final walkers
were just leaving East Street as the front of the procession
neared the next stop near the Albion Precinct.
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Excuse the pun but as the walkers stopped on Bath Street for
another hymn "I danced in the morning" and a dramatic
portrayal of a Centurion at the foot of the cross, similar walks
of witness were being held across the country as the Christian
message was spread "Nationwide".
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Prior to the walk, three young men Benjamin, Edward and Raven
had consulted with their friends (aged between 17 and 22) as
to what Easter meant to them and then, with the help of Dr N
Downes, had created the artwork and assembled the banners that
were held aloft during the walk.
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As the procession continued to its conclusion outside St Andrew's
Methodist Church, there was time for reflecting on the events
of Jesus' crucifixion as I caught the head of the line of walkers
reflected in a shop window opposite the church.
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From outside of St Andrew's the line of walkers could be seen
snaking back up Bath Street. As the final act of worship "When
I Survey " was sung and then refreshments were served in
the church.
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And as the event came to a conclusion outside St Andrew's, the
joyful message of Easter was perhaps best encapsulated in one
of the banners - Faith, Hope, Love.
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The joyful celebration continued with a Dawn Service amid the
Dale Abbey ruins at 6.30am on Easter Sunday but as we lost an
hour's sleep due to the clocks going forward overnight by one
hour that would have meant leaving home at what would in effect
have felt like 5.00am and I was still sound asleep then! On Easter
Saturday however there was another joyful event as the Erewash
Museum threw open its brand new gates and invited the public
to a Victorian Extravaganza to celebrate the launch of the Heritage
Lottery Funded Learning and Visitor Centre in the refurbished
Old Stable block - but more of that next time. This image therefore
is just a taster.
Click
here to view a YouTube slideshow/video of the "Easter
Joy 2016" Walk of Witness.
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