Barnsley Methodist Circuit’s EXHIBITION OF CROSSES & CHRIST’S PASSION at Hoyland & Birdwell Chapel 2026

Barnsley Methodist Circuit’s EXHIBITION OF CROSSES & CHRIST’S PASSION at Hoyland & Birdwell Chapel 2026
During Good Friday and Holy Saturday more than 50 people attended this exhibition of Crosses made & lent by local people & groups, representing their personal faith in God’s love seen in Jesus, opening a way for all to have life even if they die. (John 11:25). The crosses were displayed around paintings by Jenny Hawke, who helps people see the beauty and colour of faith. Entry was free
with refreshments and donations were collected for BIADS our circuit charity this year.

Visitors arrived in small numbers throughout both days and were given a printed guide which read as follows:-
We need to be quiet & careful for anguish & sorrow is here, take your time, ... sit first and ask God ... “I seek the Grace that you, God, would gift me with a way of entering into sorrow & shame as I stay with Jesus in his sufferings borne on my behalf & because of
my wrongs.” ...

There are 8 display themes each one is described inside the guide, they all relate to events that happened on Good Friday. ... When you are ready, wander in front of the displays, read the related text in this guide ... When something grabs you, stay with the feeling, perhaps sit there, remember the Grace of sorrow & shame you seek, let God gift you with it ...

Visitors collected a sticky spot from the place that moved them and stuck it on a paper cross by the exit. As always we are amazed at God’s grace, how broad and wide is the effect of the cross seen in the different coloured spots representing people’s diverse response.

After a prayerful time in the exhibition people gathered by the tea/coffee bar to talk with each other. Some came alone others stuck in pairs and supported each other in silent contemplation.

The power of Christ’s cross is here today, people were deeply moved. One comment revealed that the gentleness of the exhibition enabled them, for the first time to see beyond the senseless brutality of Christ’s cross.

“The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing”
(1Corintians 1:18) yet the mystery of this Grace of sorrow and shame ends in love & hope, it does not end here. Good Friday is about what happens next ... Jesus rises, overcomes the darkness of death

“Those who believe in me will have life even if they die” (John 11:25)