Good Friday procession to City Hall
The Good Friday service this year will focus on the theme 'Bruised but Healed Through the Cross'.
DIAKONIA Council of Churches, which for 40 years has been working for a just society, presents its annual ecumenical Good Friday service at dawn on Friday 25 March starting at the Durban Exhibition Centre (DEC), before proceeding – in silence – through the streets of the city, to the Durban City Hall.
The well-established tradition of the ecumenical Good Friday Service has become not only the flagship of Diakonia, but also a major event in the calendar of the city, attended by thousands of people who gather together at the most auspicious time in the Christian calendar, to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and his death on Calvary.
Each year, the service highlights a particular aspect of national suffering and injustice. The service this year will focus on the theme Bruised but Healed Through the Cross. The sermon will be delivered by Methodist Bishop Revd Michael Vorster.
“Since 1985 the Diakonia Council of Churches has called Christians together on Good Friday to celebrate the central mystery of our faith: the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. At the same time we have tried to conscientise and make people aware of Jesus suffering among us today,” says Nomabelu Mvambo-Dandala: Executive Director of Diakonia Council of Churches.
Meditative singing will start at 5.15am, whereafter the first part of the service will be at 6am.
The service will end at around 8.15am at the City Hall with the flowering of the Cross – as an act of commitment by all present to act for a just society.
Limited parking and street parking is available at the DEC with additional off street parking around the City Hall. Transport back to the DEC from the City Hall will be arranged for the elderly and the infirm.
Entry to the Good Friday service is free, with a collection being taken up during the service to support the burgeoning costs of this event. All are welcome to participate in this significant, multi-lingual Christian Easter event.
Contact the Diakonia Council of Churches on 031 310 3500.
