Holy Week Hut - 10th April

The first Holy Week Hut of 2017 launched today.

Every evening this week we will be at Beach Hut 11 from 6.30pm-7.30pm as we mark Holy Week together.  Each night a different artist will create an installation themed around an aspect of the Easter story.





Tonight we began with the Last Supper.

Here is that part of the narrative from the gospel of Matthew.
After sunset, Jesus and the Twelve were sitting around the table. During the meal, he said, “I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators.”

They were stunned, and then began to ask, one after another, “It isn’t me, is it, Master?”

Jesus answered, “The one who hands me over is someone I eat with daily, one who passes me food at the table. In one sense the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. In another sense that man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man—better never to have been born than do this!”

Then Judas, already turned traitor, said, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?”

Jesus said, “Don’t play games with me, Judas.”




During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples:

Take, eat.  This is my body.

Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:

Drink this, all of you. This is my blood,
God’s new covenant poured out for many people
    for the forgiveness of sins.

“I’ll not be drinking wine from this cup again until that new day when I’ll drink with you in the kingdom of my Father.”

They sang a hymn and went directly to Mount Olives.

The installation had wine spilt in a shape that pre-figured the end of the story.

At the mid-point of the hour we broke bread and shared wine together as Jesus had asked us to during that first communion meal.

It became more poignant as we drew towards sunset and the time when Jesus and his disciples would have been eating together.

Sally Hitchiner - 2nd April

Revd. Sally Hitchiner is chaplain at Brunel University and the founder of Diverse church which supports LGBT+ Christians all over the UK.  She is also a frequent media commentator and often appears on national TV reviewing the papers or being interviewed about church news.



She talked about the many issues which the church faces currently which can be seen as creating a crisis for the institution.  It is helpful to view this in terms of liminal space and therefore becomes an opportunity rather than a threat.  Liminal comes from the latin for threshold and can be seen as a creative opportunity to step out, rather than a defensive retreat.  Living in a liminal space can be uncomfortable but is often a place where God can work.

You can listen to her talk HERE and you can download a pdf of her slides HERE.