Ilkeston - Good Friday Invitation
w/e 31 March 2013
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
Ilkeston Area Churches issued an "Invitation
from Jesus" to a Silent Procession of Witness to be held
during the morning of Good Friday, March 29th.
Many responded to the invitation and gathered in St Andrew's
Methodist Church on Bath Street where a short simple service
was held with prayers and hymns including "The Servant King".
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The worshippers including the Deputy Mayor then gathered outside
in Wilmot Street to follow a wooden cross into Bath Street to
the beat of a single drum.
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Several shops, like the Banks, had closed for the day but some
were still open. Dyl and Co., providers of fancy dress, were
open with a brightly coloured yellow Easter chicken costume displayed
in the window.
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A little further up the hill the centrepiece of Harpur &
Finch's shop window is a giant chocolate Easter egg but the focus
of the procession was on the way ahead.
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Although Bath Street is a pedestrian area, it is not unusual
to see all sorts of vehicles there even at restricted times.
One such vehicle, a security van, pulled up behind the procession
that blocked the road outside the Derbyshire Building Society
(also closed) and the van had to wait to continue whilst more
prayers were said and another hymn sung.
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If you think these image look similar to previous years' you
are probably correct but whereas in the past there have been
re-enactments and people in costume, this year there was only
the one stop on Bath Street as the walkers made their way up
to the Market Place.
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This was probably as well since the weather was dry and bright
but snow was still lying in sheltered places and there were piles
of it where it had been pushed during snow clearing. It was less
cold (I hesitate to say warmer) than earlier in the week but
as the cross followed by the Deputy Mayor entered St Mary's Church,
snow could still be seen near the steps.
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Many of the walkers followed into the church for another short
service. Notice more snow on the left.
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Some people however were more hardy and stood outside to join
in with the service as it was relayed over loudspeakers.
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As I stood at the back of the church listening to the address,
my thoughts went back to 2005 and The Way of the Cross when a man portraying
Jesus wearing little more than a loin cloth was fastened to a
cross outside St Mary's. He would probably have ended up with
hypothermia if the same event had been staged this year!
See these images and more in a YouTube presentation "Invitation
from Jesus".
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