For the last few years, our family would host an interactive and meditative Good Friday experience in our home.
We’d spend the day setting up different stations around our house and invite our neighbors, our friends, our house church family and pretty much anyone who wanted to join us to participate.
In the evening, just as the sun was going down, people would enter the house quietly and visit the various stations spread throughout our home in any order they wanted to.
At one station they’d drive nails into wood. The sound of the hammers would echo throughout the house.
At another station they would hold a large crown of thorns which Wendy had woven together from our thorn bush in the back yard.
At another station, they could dip a Q-tip into a bowl of red vinegar and taste what Jesus tasted as they lifted up the sponge dipped in vinegar as he cried out in thirst from the cross.
At another station, they could tear a patch of cloth and rip it in half, just as the veil in the Temple had been rent in two as Jesus said, “It is finished!”
At yet another station, they could throw the dice and remember how the soldiers cast lots for Christ’s robe as he suffered on the cross.
At another station, they could partake in the bread and the wine, in remembrance of Christ’s proclamation that he was giving his body and his blood for us as a sign of the New Covenant.
At the final station, they could reflect on the sacrifice Christ made for them personally by dipping their hands in red paint and placing their hand prints on a white sheet of paper.
After everyone had silently walked through the house and visited each station, they were invited to come into our den and sit quietly in the dark, holding candles. Once everyone had come through, we would sit and sing songs of thanksgiving, and share scriptures remembering His sacrifice for us.
When we were all done, we’d each extinguish candles one by one with a word of grateful remembrance and all would exit in silence.
What I loved most about these evenings was how no one wanted to leave. Especially the children from our neighborhood. They’d just keep returning to the stations to reflect on different aspects of Christ’s passion for us and what happened to Jesus that day.
Honestly, this was really what made me fall in love with Holy Week, and I miss hosting these in our home.
If you’d like to try it, feel free to adapt these and maybe add other ideas to make it your own.
I promise you’ll be profoundly touched and blessed by this experience.
**
Join me this summer at one of these upcoming events:
*El Paso, TX – May 19 “United We Stand”
*Costa Mesa, CA – June 22 “United We Stand”
*Hot Springs, NC – July 11-14 “Wild Goose Festival”
Want Keith to come speak at your church or in your home town? Learn more HERE
Keith Giles was formerly a licensed and ordained minister who walked away from organized church 11 years ago, to start a home fellowship that gave away 100% of the offering to the poor in the community. Today, He and his wife live in Meridian, Idaho, awaiting their next adventure.
His new book “Jesus Unbound: Liberating the Word of God from the Bible”, is available now on Amazon and features a Foreword by author Brian Zahnd.
He is also the author of the Amazon best-seller, “Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics To Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb” with a Foreword by Greg Boyd.
Keith also co-hosts the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast on iTunes and Podbean.
BONUS: Want to unlock exclusive content including blog articles, short stories, music, podcasts, videos and more? Visit my Patreon page.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In