Category : Factual
& Arts TV ; Radio
4; Radio
2
Date : 23.03.2004
Printable version
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Religion
& Ethics marks Easter Week with television and radio programmes
ranging from traditional Easter services to contemporary worship; an
exploration of the power of the cross and insights into life in South
Africa on the 10th anniversary of democratic elections.
Ìý
Palm Sunday
The last in this year's series of Lent Talks is given by the Archbishop
of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.
Ìý
In Words from the Cross (Radio 4, 5.40pm), he
reflects on the final words of Jesus as he died: "It is finished."
Ìý
Sunday Worship (Radio 4, 8.07am) comes live from
Spring Harvest in Skegness where thousands of Christians have gathered
for this annual celebration.
Ìý
The service is led by Mark Greene, Executive Director
of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, with music from
singer-songwriter Graham Kendrick.
Ìý
Monday 5 April - Friday 9
April
Joan Bakewell begins a new series of Belief (Radio 3, 7.00pm)
in which she talks to people in the public eye about what shapes their
beliefs.
Ìý
Every day this week, guests discuss their ideas about
life's big questions and how their beliefs affect both their personal
and professional lives.
Ìý
Guests in the series include scientist Richard Dawkins,
poet John O'Donohue, Rabbi Julia Neuberger and Sir Crispin Tickell.
Ìý
Tuesday 6 April
Ìý
Rock legend and Baptist Rick Wakeman goes in search
of Jesus in the Â鶹ԼÅÄ ONE documentary Jesus Who..? (time tbc).
Ìý
Rick explores whether any of Jesus' radical message
has survived in an age when the significance of Easter has moved from
Crucifixion to confectionary.
Ìý
It is a journey infused with Rick's sense of humour
as well as a personal reappraisal of the future of Christianity in the
UK.
Ìý
Good Friday
On the 10th anniversary of democracy in South Africa, John Bell of the
Iona Community reflects on the country's recent history in The Solidarity
of Love (Â鶹ԼÅÄ ONE, 10.00am).
Ìý
The themes of the Good Friday story are particularly
relevant in South Africa today: love and suffering, doubt and confusion,
hope and conflict.
Ìý
Bell considers the parallels between the stories and
talks to Archbishop Desmond Tutu about the importance of forgiveness.
Ìý
Where once South Africa faced the injustice of apartheid,
today it is struggling with the impact of HIV/AIDS in many communities.
Ìý
Bell meets women who are living with the disease and
hears about the hope they draw from the Christian message.
Ìý
In Pilgrimage of Sorrows (Radio 4, 3.00pm),
the Rev Angela Tilby follows the Pilgrim's Way to Walsingham.
Ìý
Known as England's Nazareth, Walsingham has been a place
of pilgrimage since medieval times and still attracts both Roman Catholics
and Anglicans from throughout the world.
Ìý
Devotional images of the Passion are to be found throughout
Walsingham. Angela uses these images to reflect on how the events of
the first Good Friday still have much to say about today's Church and
society.
Ìý
For Christians, the cross is a potent symbol of the
crucifixion but it is also one of the most overused icons in the Western
World.
Ìý
Worn by millions as a fashion statement, it has been
used in pop videos and contemporary art as a symbol of all that is cool.
But what is its enduring power and influence?
Ìý
In The Cross (Radio 4, 3.30pm), award-winning
poet Michael Symmons Roberts investigates its dominance as a universal
symbol and hears personal stories from those who have discovered its
power and influence in their own lives.
Ìý
At the Foot of the Cross (Radio 2, 9.30pm) brings
the Huddersfield Choral Society and the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Concert Orchestra to Southwark
Cathedral for a special Good Friday performance of Stainer's Crucifixion.
Ìý
The Rev Roger Royle leads a meditation on the journey
to the cross, with readings by EastEnders actress Hannah Waterman.
Ìý
Easter Sunday
Â鶹ԼÅÄ ONE celebrates Easter Sunday from Kings Church in Eastbourne with
He Has Risen! (10.00am).
Ìý
The service takes the theme of transformation and is
led by the church's founder Don Smith with a lively worship band playing
contemporary music.
Ìý
This is followed by Pope John Paul II's traditional
Easter message and blessing Urbi et Orbi – to the city and
the world – live from St Peter's Square in Rome (11.00am).
Ìý
In the evening, Jonathan Edwards travels to post-apartheid
South Africa for Songs of Praise (Â鶹ԼÅÄ ONE, time tbc).
Ìý
He speaks to a conflict resolution expert who is working
with violent gang members, visits the Karos and Kambro Project which
aims to show children there is a life outside crime and speaks to Archbishop
Desmond Tutu about the power of the Resurrection.
Ìý
On Radio 4, the Easter Sunday Worship (9.10am)
is led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, live from
Canterbury Cathedral.
Ìý
As 2004 marks a coinciding of the Eastern and Western
Christian Easters, Dr Williams meditates on the face of the Risen Christ
through the Orthodox tradition.
Ìý
This is preceded by an Easter Sunrise Service
in which the Dean of Canterbury, the Very Rev Robert Willis, greets
the dawn with music, readings and prayer.
Ìý
On Radio 2's Good Morning Sunday (7.00am), Don
Maclean talks to Sister Wendy Beckett about depictions of the Crucifixion
and Resurrection; to the former Bishop of Durham the Rt Rev David Jenkins
about the relevance of the Resurrection today; and to the Rev Canon
Andrew White, Director of the International Centre for Reconciliation
at Coventry Cathedral.
Ìý
Finally, at the close of the day, Easter Glory
(Radio 2, 8.00pm) comes from Winchester Cathedral.
Ìý
Stirring Easter hymns, anthems, poetry and scripture
help to celebrate the Resurrection.
