THE three tall crosses on the hill above the Bremer Valley will be lit up again this Easter and there’s a determination by the organisers that the traditional non-denominational Good Friday Service will go ahead.
That determination is born out of the cancellation of the Service in 2020 due to Covid lockdowns and in 2021 due to a call to ‘stay at home due to Covid’ by the Premier.
“We were forced to break with a long held tradition in the last two years, but this year we are determined to go ahead,” said one of the organisers, Norm Kerle.
The Service is held in a huge marquee on the top of a hill with a panoramic view over the Bremer Valley looking past the three large crosses. The open air venue is at the corner of Eder Bros Road, Coleyville and directional signs will be installed along the route leading to the hilltop paddock.
“These crosses will be lit up all of Holy Week as a witness of our faith day and night,” Norm said.
Holding to the traditions set decades ago, the signal for the Service to begin is the sounding of a Ram’s Horn.
“As usual, we will have a guest soloist, a piper will play ‘Amazing Grace’ during the Service as he walks from the tent towards the three crosses.
“And there will be a magical children’s address especially for the children in attendance.”
The guest speaker will be Daryl McLeod, a retired Church of Christ Minister who will speak on the very fitting topic, ‘Three Crosses on a Hill’.
“At the conclusion of the Service, everyone will be invited to join us for a free cuppa or cold drink and hot cross buns and donuts,” Norm said.
“If by chance it should rain, the venue will be the Harrisville School of Arts.”
The Service usually attracts between 700 and 1,000 people.
“The signal that Christmas and Easter are soon to be celebrated nowadays are too often found in the shops and in decorations but let’s not forget what these Christian festivals stand for,” he said.
“The baby Jesus who we saw in a manger at Christmas, some thirty years later had to die on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins.
“By doing so, we who are by nature sinful are made right with God and become saints in His sight and worthy of an eternal life with Him, when our time on this earth comes to an end.
“This is the basic message which will be shared at our Good Friday Service on the hill at Coleyville from 9.30am on April 15.”
• We remind those who have trouble travelling out, that we provide a free bus service picking up people from Brassall Village, via Rosewood’s Cabanda and Uniting Church out to the Service and return home. People need to book for this bus to Noel Smith 0427 678 478 or Norm Kerle 0427 640 540.
