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Ministers take to the streets on Good Friday

The bread and wine will show the sacrifice Jesus made for the world

Ministers will be taking bread and wine into the streets to mark Good Friday and show the sacrifice Jesus made for the world. Instead of inviting people into the church for a Good Friday service, a group of Church of Scotland ministers have decided to go out amongst the public spreading the word of Christ, with events scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Bo'ness, Dunfermline and Dornoch.

In Glasgow over a hundred people are expected to gather at George Square for an ecumenical march of witness led by Reverend Peter Gardner. They will carry a six foot cross and their route through the city centre will mirror the movement of Christ's own Way of the Cross.

The driving force behind the scheme is Reverend Albert Bogle, minister at St. Andrew's in Bo'ness. He explained the idea:

"What I am trying to achieve by taking the bread and the wine to the streets is to cause people to draw breath, to think, what is this?

"I want to reach people who have been far away from God and to bring them near."

He stressed that passers-by will not receive Communion:

"It is not a Communion service, it is a preparation for people coming to the table some day.

"It's a reminder that something of universal significance happened the day that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, on a rubbish dump, near a busy street, beside a thief and a murderer."

After Easter, Mr. Bogle will be working on his next project The National Gathering, an event that he feels will be "the biggest thing the Church has seen in the last ten years."

It will take place over the weekend 3/4 May at Ingliston's Royal Highland Centre, and key speakers include the Archbishop of York John Sentamu.

Ends.

Media enquiries:

Glasgow: George Square at 10.45am (Reverend Peter Gardner)

Bo'ness: Market Square at 12noon (Reverend Albert Bogle)

Dornoch: Cathedral at 7.15pm (Reverend Susan Brown)

Dunfermline: High Street at 6.45pm (Reverend Gordon Reid)

nr/20/03/2008

Wednesday 19, March 2008

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