Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Procession of witness
Hiding Christianity?
For many years churches and Christian organisations in this town have held a Good Friday "Procession of Witness" culminating in multi-denominational services at various points in the Borough. Years ago, these processions provided quite an enjoyable spectacle as we watched hundreds of sunday school children marching with their uniformed colleagues from the Boys Brigades, the Scouts, the Girls Brigades, the Church Army, the Girl Guides, and the Salvation Army, to name just a few. They would form long processions interspersed with marching bands, brass bands, silver bands, pipe bands, etc. moving in earnest towards the Market Place or the West Park, and to a lesser extent Harton Junior school. The event often attracted large crowds and I can remember standing in the Market Place, on a few occasions when the crowds completely covered all of the flag stones and cobbles and we squeezed up against the walls and shop windows of the perimeter. It rained, of course, so many umbrellas provided a slowly moving rooftop! (I always imagined that this is how the weather must have been on that fateful Friday at Golgotha.)
We would all join in the singing of the hymns and listen with solemnity to the prayers, and wonder who wrote the Mayors speech, perhaps one of the major highlights of our First Citizen's year! Children crowded around the legs of adults seeking shelter from the rain and clutching oranges, many wondering if mam and dad could afford to take them down to the fairground and spend a few bob on the rides!
Meanwhile the rest of the town reverberated to the sounds of the marching bands heading back towards their own churches to disperse in peace. It was ever thus, it made South Shields a great place to be on Good Friday.
So, I wonder.............why is it that so many of the children are being made to march down back streets and lanes this year? Why are the processions marching on such short pieces of major public highway? Is someone attempting to hide this traditional expression of Christian Faith? Are we afraid of offending some non Christian groups, or are we afraid that someone might get hurt in some fashion, to the extent that the "compensation culture" solicitors (vultures) will be hovering over the Town Hall next week?
Being a believer in great British traditions has often been perceived as the hallmark of a conservative thinker, but what's so wrong with preserving what has always been good?
If it ain't broken, then why attempt to fix it?
_________________________________________________________________
For many years churches and Christian organisations in this town have held a Good Friday "Procession of Witness" culminating in multi-denominational services at various points in the Borough. Years ago, these processions provided quite an enjoyable spectacle as we watched hundreds of sunday school children marching with their uniformed colleagues from the Boys Brigades, the Scouts, the Girls Brigades, the Church Army, the Girl Guides, and the Salvation Army, to name just a few. They would form long processions interspersed with marching bands, brass bands, silver bands, pipe bands, etc. moving in earnest towards the Market Place or the West Park, and to a lesser extent Harton Junior school. The event often attracted large crowds and I can remember standing in the Market Place, on a few occasions when the crowds completely covered all of the flag stones and cobbles and we squeezed up against the walls and shop windows of the perimeter. It rained, of course, so many umbrellas provided a slowly moving rooftop! (I always imagined that this is how the weather must have been on that fateful Friday at Golgotha.)
We would all join in the singing of the hymns and listen with solemnity to the prayers, and wonder who wrote the Mayors speech, perhaps one of the major highlights of our First Citizen's year! Children crowded around the legs of adults seeking shelter from the rain and clutching oranges, many wondering if mam and dad could afford to take them down to the fairground and spend a few bob on the rides!
Meanwhile the rest of the town reverberated to the sounds of the marching bands heading back towards their own churches to disperse in peace. It was ever thus, it made South Shields a great place to be on Good Friday.
So, I wonder.............why is it that so many of the children are being made to march down back streets and lanes this year? Why are the processions marching on such short pieces of major public highway? Is someone attempting to hide this traditional expression of Christian Faith? Are we afraid of offending some non Christian groups, or are we afraid that someone might get hurt in some fashion, to the extent that the "compensation culture" solicitors (vultures) will be hovering over the Town Hall next week?
Being a believer in great British traditions has often been perceived as the hallmark of a conservative thinker, but what's so wrong with preserving what has always been good?
If it ain't broken, then why attempt to fix it?
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Curly Born in 1956
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