Holy Week

It is interesting how church traditions differ round the world. While Christmas is marked in Japan with many services and special outreach events, Easter is quite different. Within the churches we know or have been part of, you would hear very little about Lent, there would be nothing to mark Palm Sunday and no services during Holy Week. Easter comes and goes with just a celebration service on Easter Sunday. And that's a bit of a shame really as there is little chance to pause and reflect on the cross and Jesus' passion. As we start our new church in Hiragishi we have tried consciously to incorporate some of these things and mark important times in the church calendar as well as reflect on how to mark some things which are important in Japanese culture. In our curch we have all used Lent as a time for giving up something. Yesterday we focused on Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. This coming Friday we will take the opportunity as a church to have a reflective time of readings and meditation on the cross. And next Sunday we will gather again to celebrate the risen Jesus and hope that a number of guests will join us then too. We are already thinking about holding an outreach event for the community next year around the time of Easter and are visiting another church next month to see what they do. As many round the world mark Easter, our prayer is that many in Japan would come to know the one who came as Crucified Saviour and Risen Lord.