A gap sometimes can exist in Christians’ celebration of Jesus’ life these days.
The Rev. Ed Scherer-Berry has seen such, especially in recent years as busy believers find it tough to make it to a Holy Week service detailing Christ’s suffering and death. He views that as unfortunate.
“Good Friday is so important to the Christian faith, in my opinion,” said Scherer-Berry, pastor of Newbern United Methodist Church. “But, so often, we tend to ignore so much of the Passion of Christ.
“You come to church on Palm Sunday, when Jesus rides triumphantly into Jerusalem. And then sometimes, they come back the next Sunday and Jesus is rising from the dead. Well, wait. Hello? When did he die?”
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Scherer-Berry has joined with three Hartsville area churches to plan a joint Good Friday service at 7 p.m. Friday at Newbern United Methodist, 15786 E. Main St. in Newbern. The Rev. Tim Tallent at Hartsville First Baptist, the Rev. Brad Douglas at Hartsville Church of Christ, the Rev. Matt Snodgrass at Hartsville United Methodist and Scherer-Berry first worked together for a joint Christmas service last year.
One reason is that they highlight the fact that Scripture sees unity as important, according to Snodgrass.
“At the end of the day, we all have the same boss,” Snodgrass said. “Each (one of us) has made a commitment to work as a team to serve the community.”
The service will include nine Stations of the Cross highlighting Jesus’ suffering and death.
Each station will feature a Scripture reading, a song from vocalist Andrea Ewan and some form of response of participation from the congregation — and that congregational participation is a huge key for Scherer-Berry, who wants attendees to be more than passive spectators. A video screen will depict paintings throughout history detailing the particular event of that focus.
Snodgrass will represent Jesus in readings. And Scherer-Berry will represent characters such as Pilate, the high priest, Judas and others.
“We really want it to give people an emotional glimpse of what those incidents were about,” Scherer-Berry said.
He added that he expects singer Ewan to stir substantial emotion with her powerful voice.
Organizers mentioned that they are uncertain how to judge the overall success of such a combined effort. But they will pay attention to worshipers’ feedback. Scherer-Berry simply hopes to have believers’ Easter celebration tethered to the struggle that makes possible the holiday’s joy.
“With some churches today, every Sunday seems like it’s about Easter. And I understand that that is true,” he said. “But, we lose the power of the entire story of Jesus if we focus only on the Resurrection.”
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What: Joint Good Friday service with Newbern United Methodist, Hartsville United Methodist, Hartsville Church of Christ and Hartsville First Baptist.
When: 7 p.m. Friday.
Where: Newbern United Methodist Church, 15786 E. Main St. in Newbern.
Information: Facebook page for Newbern United Methodist.
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