STRATHAVEN

              Easter Trail    APRIL 4th-8th    2012               

The Strathaven Easter Pilgrimage

The Strathaven Easter tour is a fantastic and imaginative way to explore the Easter story.  For the week leading up to Easter Sunday, we transform our town into 'Jerusalem'. Using key landmarks of our town we recreate the landmarks of the ancient city.  And so our old castle, becomes a Roman Fort, and the common drying green in the heart of the town, an oasis of peace and thought as it becomes the Garden of Gethsemane.  The tour is designed for a personal walk or reflection or you may wish to join a FREE guided tour and hear the story from one of our guides. The sites are open from 2.30 - 7.45pm daily (Wednesday - Friday) and 12.30- 5.00 on Saturday and Sunday

It is a wonderful way to relive the last week of Jesus' life before his crucifiction. In the first year (2009) 1300 or more visited the 9 sites. This is our 4th year - and things keep growing.

 This year you can again visit and.....
  • Pass through the Sheep Gate (as designed by Glassford Evangelical Church on the lane at Hills Road) and recall Jesus' entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
  • Pause at the High Point (by our cemetery) overlooking the town and think about Jesus weeping as he saw Jerusalem
  • Enter the Temple Courtyard (at the Rankin Church) and think about Jesus' teaching - and his confrontation with the money lenders and traders.
  • Visit the Upper Room (in Strathaven Evangelical Church) and consider the intimate moments he spent with his closest friends before he was betrayed.
  • Sit in the Garden of Gethsemane (as arranged by Avendale Church in a corner of the Allison Green) and try to imagine Jesus' turmoil in the hours before his arrest here.
  • Come quietly into the High Priest's Courtyard (in the enclosed garden at the former West Kirk) and think both of Peter's loyalty and bravery that brought him here, but also of his terror and failure as he betrayed the Lord he loved.
  • Come to the Roman Fort (at Strathaven Castle) where the Outreach Community Church will help you reflect on Christ's suffering at the hands of a brutal occupying power.
  • Come to the Cross (visible to all on the high point of the Monument Hill overlooking the town) where the OCC will continue the reflection on his suffering. The ultimate place of God's sacrifice and the place of HOPE for all mankind.
  • See the Tomb (at the back of the East Church) the place of utter hopelessness turned, on Easter morning, to the place of complete joy, and join with the Christians of the town early on Easter morning to celebrate Christ's resurrection.

 

Through the week you can follow the trail at your own pace or join one of the organised tours where a guide will talk you through the Easter story in one of our walking tours. The sites will be open daily between the hours of 2.30pm and 7.45pm.  Please follow the links on this site to see how you can use and appreciate all the Easter Pilgrimage brings to Strathaven.

 

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