Cranmer Hall and the Great North Passion:

Telling the Old, Old story in New and Creative Ways

 Members of Cranmer Hall staff team and St John’s College were delighted to be asked to work with the BBC on their Good Friday programme, The Great North Passion. Over a period of months Revd Professor David Wilkinson (who teaches Preaching and Apologetics at Cranmer), Revd Susie Thorp (College Chaplain), Revd Dr Michael Volland (who teaches Mission) and Revd Dr Kate Bruce (who teaches Preaching) met with the Creative Producer for BBC Religion & Ethics. This was a creative process teasing out key themes in Jesus final journey to the cross, connecting them with narratives drawn from the spiritual heritage of the North East and  interweaving them  with contemporary stories of life and faith in the region.

During Lent shipping containers were placed in various churches and communities where people worked with artists and musicians to prepare the containers to represent the Stations of the Cross, the significant points along Christ’s painful journey to Golgotha, where he was crucified.  The final piece was presented in Bents Park, South Shields by Fern Britton on Good Friday. The shipping containers were assembled in the form of a cross, and the piece unfolded combining music, dance, art and story-telling underpinned by the Biblical story of the Passion. The piece demonstrated that the old, old story of God’s profound love of humanity, expressed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, can still be told in creative and refreshing ways.

Kate Bruce, Deputy Warden of Cranmer and Tutor in Preaching, comments: ‘It was terrific to see so many Cranmer Alumni involved in the programme, helping their communities to articulate and share faith in such creative ways.  It was a privilege to work with colleagues here and with the BBC’s creative team in shaping the script and offering advice on the theological integrity of the whole  piece. Innovation and clear-story telling were at the heart of this project, themes which are central to Cranmer Hall’s approach to faith sharing.’

 Why not watch the Great North Passion

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01t69yh/The_Great_North_Passion/