Easter Saturday Event

On the third of April, we met in a very different venue from our regular pub format. The cellar in The Old Ship Hotel set the tone for an exploration of the empty space between death and resurrection. This was explored through a service which incorporated readings, music, symbolic action, and periods of relfection.

The evening progressed in stages, each set by a visual, with the first being the shadow of betrayal. The table was set as it was during the The Last supper when Jesus spoke of Judas' betrayal. A reading accompanied this which highlighted the scence between Jesus and Judas when Jesus explins that Judas will betray him. A candle was extinguished and a period of silence followed which was accompanied by music.

This foreshadowing led into a reading from Psalms "Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends -- those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by then as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery." This tied into the feelings of Jesus while at Gethsemane, who was anguished. Again, a candle went out.

A reader came forward wearing a shirt stained with woman's lipstick, a modern representation of betrayal. "The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard." Another candle, gone.

A bowl of water and a towel was laid out. The reader spoke as he washed his hands: So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." The fourth candle was extinguished.

After this, the audience saw a crown of thorns. Alongside this was a description of the humilition Jesus went through before he was cruicified. "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our sin; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. He was oppressed and afflicted; yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth." During this reading, nails were pounded into a cross int he middle of the room. This was by far the most powerful scene. Not only did the words connect, but the visual of nails being hammered into a cross accompanied by the auditory shock was very moving.

Finally, bread and wine vinegar was passed around a representation of one of Jesus' final experiences on the cross. The evening finished with these words "When Jesus had recived the wine he said 'It is finished.' Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." The tablecloth in the cellar was removed and torn at these words. Darkness followed the absence of the last candle's light.

Refreshment

As people arrived in the upstairs room of The Alibi, they were greeted by an oasis in the form of a lush table-scape complete with fruit, bread, wine, and cheese. This oasis represented a form of refreshment that we all require in our daily lives. Refreshment can take many forms such as physical, emotional, and spiritual. Each of which were touched upon during the evening.

A familiar party game kicked off the evening as each person in the
room had a sticker on his or her back with the name of an inspiring
person. The point of the game was to find out who you were by asking different people int he room yes or no questions, such as "Am I English?" or "Does my profession relate to science?". Many found this to be a difficult exercise, however enjoyable. A short video was shown with an audio clip describing Jesus as the "living water" and how he can refresh us; mind, body, and soul.

These ideas led us to think about people in our personal lives who inspire and invigorate us. We took time to discuss these people with those around us and share inspiring stories. To make the idea even more apparent, everyone took a paintbrush and wrote the name of the person who refreshes them on a piece of paper which only works with water. As water hydrates us, so do people in our lives.

Bill Viola, an artist who mainly works with film produced a video where a man was completely drenched in water to the point where you could no longer see him. Similarly, we want and need to feel renewed and invigorated at different points during our life's journey.

Bread was then broken, and a correlation was made between communion and people sharing a simple meal together as we did that evening. The food nourishes our bodies, while the company of others feeds our emotional selves, and the spirit of God works through it all. There was a buzz about the space that evening and a feeling of connectedness.Our next event is the Easter Saturday Special which will explore the empty space between death and resurrection. It is taking place on the 3rd of April in the cellar at The Old Ship Hotel from 7.30pm - 8:30pm.

Drought

At the end of February we investigated Drought, or the barren places in our lives that leave us feeling distanced from God. We set up the venue at the pub as a metaphor for this. Folk were welcomed into a space that was made completely barren as all the comforts had been removed - no chairs, no tables, no drinks. The floor was covered entirely with newspaper with a small rock pile in the centre of the room.

A short video highlighting various disastrous events such as floods, wildfires, terrorism, famine, earthquakes, and homelessness was played as a start to the evening. It's these kinds of events that lead people to question where God is and the film was set to a very eerie piece of music by Tom Waits entitled "God's Away on Business". By this time we were all beginning to feel the room's sense of Godlessness.

Everyone was then invited to take a closer look at the articles on the floor and to circle the ones that were particularly negative. After this, Psalm 42 was read, which ties in the idea of "thirsting" for God when we experience negative events in our own lives. It also expresses the feeling of abandonment that we sometimes feel from God really well.

The feeling of being alone, that God has left us, led us to an activity. Each person took a rock from the centre of the room and moved it away from the pile to a distance that they personally felt from God. The rocks in the room ended up in many different places, some nearer to the centre, and others at the very edge, each on a personal scale.

We then again reflected on the feeling of drought in our spiritual lives with readings from Peter Rollins' The Prodigal Father as well as The Dark Night of the Soul from the 16th century and The Cloud of Unknowing from the 14th century. This demonstrated that for centuries, people have experienced many of the same emotions and distance from God that we sometimes think of as being unique to modern life.
As a final act, everyone was asked to peel back the newspaper that sat below their rock. This revealed a foundation covering the entire floor of small print of the word "God", taking us from being in a place were God is nowhere to a place where God now here, is present. In fact, God was, and is, everywhere. All of the remaining newspaper was then ripped away, not only revealing God in all places, but also acting as a cleansing experience. The words of Jesus on the cross were read "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These words really hit home in the sense that Jesus also experienced the feeling of abandonment and drought. The fact that Jesus was also human, and this shared experience of drought actually brings us closer rather than farther from God.
We'll be discussing these themes in greater depth at our next evening which is 14th March at 7.30pm in the same venue.

Vistas

A new season began this week and new horizons was the theme (or vistas to be precise). Our aim was to look at what it's like to be on a mountain top and to suddenly get a new view of everything. This can be a bit challenging when you're in the upstairs room of a pub on a cold, dark January night!

As always there was lots to do as people came in from looking at various images which were taken from a distorted point of view to stepping inside a giant circular panorama of the Brighton seafront. Everyone was encouraged to go to the bar not only to get a drink but also to collect a length of ribbon measured out to the same length as their age.

The beginning of the evening focused on different perspectives from a variety of angles (appropriately enough!) starting with the visual, moving through perceptions of the spiritual through the experiences of people like the astronauts in Apollo 8 rounding the moon for the first time and ending up with a look at God's perception of things like time as described by Rob Bell (there's an extended version of the video we watched of his lecture here).

This led us to think about 'thin places' these are places 'where the veil that separates heaven and earth is lifted and one is able to receive a glimpse of the glory of God' and they don't just have to be mountain tops but can occur anywhere, at any time in our lives - in the smile from a stranger, an unexpected act of kindness or a moment of transfiguration on a bus.

This is described beautifully by Dave Tomlinson in a sermon on the Transfiguration which you can listen to here if you have 15 minutes to spare. We then spent some time thinking about places that are thin for us and writing these onto our ribbons before attaching them to a cross that was set up in the corner of the room.
After the event a few of us took the opportunity to visit a thin place and went up on the downs to get a view over Brighton and the Sussex countryside in the light of a beautiful, clear moonlit night.

People's everyday experiences of thin places will form the foundation for our Vistas Revisited discussion in 2 weeks time - perhaps you would like to describe some of your favourite thin places in the comments to this blog?

Beach Hut 24

We finally reached Christmas Eve and the end of our Advent pilgrimage with a spectacular 'high concept' installation courtesy of Jimmy Cauty, local artist, ex-KLF member and creator of ambient music.

The concept was that hut 234 contained the light of God in all it's awesomeness and holy majesty. Because this light is so blinding and amazing the hut doors could only be open a little, sending a beam of light across the seafront and out to sea.

Halfway through our hour together we listened to these words from John chapter 1:

In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Everyone was given glowsticks and we then broke these to create light and as a way of a acknowledging that Jesus, the light of the world, was born on that first Christmas.

The light made the hut very easy to find and hundreds of people turned up to celebrate Christmas Eve with us. Even though we had double the amount of mulled wine and mince pies we still ran out halfway through and reckon that over 300 people visited us during the event.

People kept asking if more was going to happen or if we were going to sing something together and there was a great air of expectation about the whole evening. This is what Advent is all about - hopeful waiting for God to act, though we never know exactly what that action will be.

Thanks to all those who took part in the Beach Hut Advent Calendar this year and we pray that God's light will shine upon you this Christmas.

Beach Hut 23

Tonights hut was put together by two art students, Flo and Alice Ray and was a very high concept installation.

The theme carol was
Christians Awake! Salute the Happy Morn which is all about the gift of Jesus at Christmas and the gift theme was represented by a collection of silver wrapped presents arranged in a cross shape in the centre of hut 268.

Coloured lights were added to this in a seemingly random way but somehow managed to arrange themselves into the features of Jesus on the cross in a quite striking way. The whole effect managed to capture both Christmas and Easter in one piece of art.

Overall the weather this year has been much worse than last year which has made the whole event a bit more of an endurance test than we had imagined. Despite that there have been a number of people who have managed to collect a full set of stamps and a genuine little community has formed with all these regulars, so much so that when one person missed a few nights we all became quite concerned about him (he's now returned safe and sound).

On the other hand we have also had new visitors every day, largely because of all the great publicity we've received in both national and local papers. And of course there have been the fantastic huts every night showing off the brilliant creativity and spiritual insight of the people of Brighton & Hove.

The final hut is number 234 and is an installation concept and music courtesy of artist and musician Jimmy Cauty.

Beach Hut 22

It was a perfect night tonight with hardly a cloud in the sky and no wind so that the sea was a calm as a millpond. On top of that we had some spectacular natural effects as there were occasional flashes of lightning out to sky, a sky so clear you could see satellites passing overhead and three quite spectacular shooting stars in the hour we were out.

Elaine had created a host of angels and bells in her hut as her theme was Ding, Dong, Merrily on High. The children had also created some pavement art on this same theme and provided an area for more art to be produced throughout the evening.

The better weather brought out more people and we had good numbers tonight, including one of our initial regulars who had been missing for a week or so with a bad case of bronchitis. Quite a little community has formed through these weeks of pilrimage and we've been privileged to get to know a number of people as we've walked together toward Christmas.

Our penultimate hut this year is number 268.

Beach Hut 21

The weather finally got the better of us today because although the snow and ice had gone there was a stiff breeze blowing in directly from the sea which played havoc with the amazing paper angel that Annelies had created as the centrepiece of hut 227. The resulting angel-less display was still beautiful with a nativity scene set in the hay lit entirely by candle light. The weather also affected other things in Brighton as the annual Burning of the Clocks parade was cancelled, but we always come out come rain, snow or shine!

The carol was Joy to the World and some words from John chapter 1 were included in the display; 'The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it'. That's how we felt as we defeated the dark night storm to create something uplifting and peaceful despite the raging winds.

Annelies has only recently returned from the Florence Biennale where she has been exhibiting her paintings which you can see on her website. We were also featured today on the Church of England online Advent Calendar entitled 'Why Are We Waiting'.


Next hut is 428.

Beach Hut 20

Tonights carol was possibly the most appropriate one we've had so far - See Amid the Winter Snow - and those who came down to the beach had to struggle though snow and extreme ice for the pleasure of seeing Karens hut. The ice along the seafront was treacherous as it has been tramped into an icerink like sheen which made it quite dangerous to walk anywhere except along a narrow strip close to the huts which was ice free.

Hut 410 was decked out all in white to match the snow theme and featured a beautiful little nativity scene set inside an enormous ornate lantern. Everything was watched over by a guardian angel looking down from on high.

Thanks to everyone who came out tonight when it was so cold and dangerous, but a special mention must go to the couple who left their grandparents and children having dinner in a restaurant in town, jumped in a taxi to come and see the hut and get their cards stamped and then got back in the same taxi to go back and finish their meal. That's dedication for you!

All along this year has felt like a journey that we are all making together travelling closer and closer to the birth of Christ at Christmas. We hope that the weather warms up enough to encourage some more people to come out on the last few steps of our pilgrimage to Christmas over the remaining few days.

The owner of the next hut has just returned from exhibiting at the Florence biennale and is number 227.

Beach hut 19

It's taken us to nearly 20 days into the Beach hut Advent Calendar to see our first nativity scene. The carol was Away in a Manger and Carrie and Lucy created a wonderful image of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus made from different coloured tissue paper to form a hut-size screen which was lit from behind with a lovely gentle light.



Alongside this wonderful hut was a table full of goodies to add to the mince pies and mulled wine. The only difficulty was that with the temperature being -8 degrees a lot of the cakes froze and turned into mini ice-creams!

Fortunately we did have a bit of winter warmth from a small wood burner although the ice underfoot meant we all got very cold feet no matter how close we got the fire.

We were accompanied by a beautiful new moon which combined with a very calm sea and low tide and snow covered beaches to make a gorgeous calm night.


The next hut is waiting to be unveiled beside the lagoon and is number 410.

Beach Hut 18

The Beach hut Advent Calendar opens come rain or shine and tonight was no different. Despite heavy snow in Brighton & Hove, Kirsty still decorated and opened up hut 19a and some hardy souls turned out to see the display, be warmed by the mulled wine and to get their cards stamped.

The theme carol was As With Gladness Men of Old, a carol about the wise men following the star, leading onward, beaming bright. So the design featured lots of beautiful but simple stars and some high tech UV lighting to show them off to best effect. It's amazing what you can do with a good idea and some paper folding!


Next hut is halfway towards Hove Lagoon at number 341.

Beach Hut 17

Tonights hut has been a long time in the making as a local children's home has been planning this for a while. To make sure that it was safe for them they had to do a risk assessment and have had all the children making angels and stars for the hut which were all hung on fishing line to make a wonderful hanging forest. The whole thing was offset with sparkly lights set into the hut ceiling.

To complete the angel theme they had created a full size gold angel who stood guard by the hut although the wind did it's very best to blow it over. Thankfully the weather did decide to mirror the theme carol which was It Came Upon the Midnight Clear and the sky was beautifully clear although there was a very cold wind blowing down from the north bringing snow for later in the evening.

Tomorrow Kirsty from the BEYOND planning team is putting together a special light show in hut 19a.