Thousands to Attend Easter Weekend 'Experience'
Easter at one of the nation’s most widely-known megachurches has expanded into a larger ''experience'' this year for Christians to remember the sacrifice and the resurrection of Christ.
Easter at one of the nation’s most widely-known megachurches has expanded into a larger "experience" this year for Christians to remember the sacrifice and the resurrection of Christ.
Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., anticipates over 35,000 people in attendance this weekend.
Massive numbers of unchurched people return to a church for an Easter season service, according to recent Barna study. With expected swelling attendance numbers this Easter weekend, Willow Creek has already begun its annual community outreach.
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"Experience Good Friday" presents the public with almost every possible way of getting in tune with the day of the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ. On Thursday night, the church kicked off two days of audio, visual and tangible experiences at its fairly new facility to offer different settings for people to reflect and remember what Good Friday is about, according to a Willow Creek spokesman.
The "experience" was launched three years ago and has expanded each year to cater to the tastes of the entire family.
Last year, the crucial day drew 8,000 people from the community and this year, Willow Creek expects 10,000.
This year's activities include a showing of "The Passion of The Christ," a time of worship, a "What Jesus Heard" audio station presenting the sounds that Jesus most likely heard as he walked the path toward the cross, communion stations and a family experience on the last supper. The entire experience is meant to put people in the place of Christ.
Good Friday will be an all day affair at Willow Creek on Friday and six Easter services will be offered Saturday and Sunday.
