Cracking Easter for thousands of pupils
An initiative that's helped school children learn more about Easter has entered its 21st year
Easter Cracked is a fast-paced, interactive 90 minute presentation for local Year 6 pupils that was first delivered at Slough Baptist Church in 1995, having been devised by then minister the Revd Jem Sewell.
Each presentation aims to provide a warm welcome to the church for children of all faiths and none, and hopes to share something of both the Christmas and Easter miracles in a way that is memorable, interactive and engaging. Quizzes, Easter egg hunts, rap music and a demonstration baptism all feature in Easter Cracked.
Since 1995 more than 50 churches have hosted an ‘Easter Cracked’ and its sister production Christmas Unwrapped all across the UK. This year is no different with around 30 areas participating in 200 Easter Cracked sessions for more than 10,000 pupils from Altrincham to Woodley and Gravesend to Glasgow.
Easter Cracked sessions at Slough Baptist Church ran from 14-17 March. As ever Wayne Dixon (pictured), a schools’ worker and member of the church, was looking forward to the engagement with both pupils and teachers.
‘It receives a lot of positive feedback from teachers, and the pupils get a real buzz when they’re here,’ he said.
‘I firmly believe that if you can enjoy learning, it sticks with you and I often meet pupils who enthusiastically recount their memories of presentations years ago.
‘It’s been the most significant enterprise with which I’ve ever been involved with, because it’s very replicable in many churches - all the resources are there.’
Visitors and observers are always very welcome to Easter Cracked and Christmas Unwrapped (which takes place in November).
The full list of participating areas is: Alloa, Altrincham, Arbroath, Bath, Bothwell Brentwood, Bristol, Broadstairs, Canterbury, Colliers Wood, Coventry, Dunblane, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Eton, Fleet, Glasgow, Gravesend, Guildford, Hamilton & Blantyre, High Wycombe, Hitchin, Hockley, Holmer Green, Kingsdown, Lanarkshire, Liverpool, Maidenhead, Milton Keynes, Newbury, Newham, Paddington, Plaistow, Reading, Sauchie, Spalding, Stockport, Stratford, Street, Swindon, Thanet, Wales, West Drayton & Wokingham.
Baptist Times, 11/03/2016