The Vision
In the winter of 1993 the twice-monthly prayer meeting met together as usual, just as it had done for many years. The group, although small in number, preferred to meet in the church lounge as it was cosy and far warmer than the church building itself. As normal, we opened up with a time of open prayer: fervently praising and glorifying The Lord, thanking Him for His Son, Jesus, and for the gift of His Holy Spirit and then going on to ask Him to continue to bless all our efforts on His behalf. Some years earlier the minister’s wife Ruth (who often attended the prayer meeting) had prophesied to the group saying that the Lord had spoken to her, asking her a question: “Are you ready for all I’m going to give to the Church”? And so, with this in mind, we continued at each prayer meeting to remind the Lord of His promises to us, asking Him to prepare us and make us ready for all He had to give his Church.
Forty Feet Above the Ground!
Near to the end of this particular prayer meeting in 1993 the leader prayed a prayer in which she asked The Lord how we could be used by Him to help Him build the Church in Hornchurch. She then said, “Let each of us pray this prayer and then wait on the Lord for an answer” and instructed us that if we felt that he was speaking to us by His Holy Spirit (if anyone got a word or a picture) then we were to let her know. Now, being fairly new to the prayer group, my prayer was over quickly and I opened my eyes, only to find everyone was still in deep prayer; so I closed my eyes and prayed for a second time. After a time I looked up to find the prayer group still deep in prayer and so I closed my eyes once more; but, this time, I found myself 40 feet in the air looking down on our church building and, as I looked down, I saw a melee of people standing on the paved area outside the old gate. They were all dressed in Eastern attire and were pushing and shoving, kicking and punching someone. From the onset it looked like a mass brawl then, suddenly, from the centre of this angry mob I saw a man whom I recogonised as Jesus appear. It was his Crucifixion.
Jesus had been on the receiving end of this barbaric treatment and, after His terrible beating, I watched as He attempted to carry the heavy wooden cross towards the place of execution. As I continued to watch Him stagger along the path, it seemed that my focus was on Jesus alone, and His bearing of the cross. The crowd, at this point, seemed to have faded away and as I looked at Him, all alone, a terrible sense of loneliness came upon me. I later felt that Jesus must have been experiencing this same sense of loneliness but to a far greater degree. It was at this point that the scene changed and, again, I found myself still 40 feet in the air but, this time, I was above The Fairkytes Centre in Billet Lane, Hornchurch, looking down on the Queen’s Theatre Green where I saw Jesus being crucified on the cross. It was at this point I cried out saying “Oh Lord how could we do this to you” (meaning “Oh Lord what have we done to you”) but then I was conscious of someone on my left-hand side, and although I didn’t see Him, He spoke to me very clearly saying “YOU ARE TO GET THE PEOPLE FROM THE THEATRE INVOLVED”.
What to Do with the Vision?
This was the end of the vision and I was again conscious of being back with the prayer group. When everyone eventually opened their eyes again, the leader, Jenny Howe, asked us if anyone had seen, or heard anything from the Lord. Nothing was said but I remember thinking, “WOW what was that I saw?”, but I didn’t say anything at the time. In fact I kept quiet until the closure of the prayer meeting and it was only then that I shared the vision with the leader. One thing I was told about the vision was that I was to go home and pray about what I’d seen and heard, to get confirmation and, if it was from The Lord, it would happen. But I was also told that if the vision came from my own imagination then it probably wouldn’t happen. I remember telling people that no way did it come from me, telling them “my world is at pavement level, not 40 feet in the air!” Well, I was obedient to the instructions I’d received and, on praying about it, I was given confirmation by The Holy Spirit that, Yes, the Lord wanted His Church to have a Passion Play in Hornchurch; but He made one stipulation and His orders were explicit: we were to use people from the Professional Theatre (“YOU ARE TO GET THE PEOPLE FROM THE THEATRE INVOLVED”).
The Churches Get Involved
The vision was given for the building of the church, a year later, in early 1994. Graham Pearson, a steward from Hornchurch Methodist Church, attended a Churches Together meeting at St. Andrews and put forward the possibility of carrying out a Passion Play while informing them of the prayer and the subsequent vision. I was later called to an ecumenical meeting, where other denominations attended, wanting to hear and check out the story for themselves. I was again instructed by the Churches to go home and pray about it and to enquire of the Lord as to when would be the best possible time for this play. They also informed me that they would approach the local Queen's Theatre Company to supply our needs, as it was pointed out to me that we needed a professional actor to play Jesus, a professional stage manager to run the production, and a professional music director to form and train a choir. I prayed about the Lord’s timing for the Passion Play and felt it was to take place at Easter 1995. When the churches contacted me they had already decided that 1995 could be a favourable time, as Easter was late that year, but it all rested on the decision of the people from the Queen’s Theatre.
How to get the Theatre Involved?
Many attempts were made to get the help of the Queen’s Theatre, regarding professional personnel, but we were informed that, unfortunately, on this occasion they were not in a position to help us but they would, however, be able to supply us with power, and rooftop access for our lights/sound etc. This was wonderful in itself. We need not have worried. The Lord in His infinite wisdom had already hand picked our people from the Theatre: we just didn’t know it at that time! Whilst we were still busy trying to force doors open, the Lord had been busy elsewhere, preparing and setting apart the people of His choosing, and we have to thank God for the choice He made. I have come to realise that we serve a God of the 11th hour, a God who will take us to the wire many times in our walk with him in order for us to realise that, without Him, we can do nothing. When all looked lost for the 1995 Passion Play and it seemed the people from the theatre hadn’t come through for us, out of the blue, i received a call from Hugh Dibbens, vicar of St Andrews, who informed me of a possible breakthrough.
At Last – the Breakthrough
The breakthrough came in a wonderful way by means of a professional actor named Kevin Walsh (who had recently been given an opportunity to take part in a Passion Play in Rome) and he just happened to be discussing this project with a friend of his. As they chatted, the friend informed Kevin about the plans Hornchurch had, telling him what was needed for our Play to succeed. The rest, as they say, is history because this chance meeting was of God’s will. I say this because not only did we get Kevin (who played Jesus and directed the piece) but he brought two other professional people along with him : Taryn Garwood (who stage managed the piece) and Dominic Wadsworth (Musical Director). These three people (all Catholics) not only earned their equity ticket at the Queen’s Theatre, years earlier, but had trained at R.A.D.A. together and were now working out in the wider world. These were the people from the Theatre whom The Lord used and still is using mightily for His glory (though Dominic has since moved to Ireland). These are the people that helped us put on the Hornchurch Passion Play and we have staged it on four separate occasions: the first being in 1995, the second in 2000, the third in 2006 and the fourth in 2011. These are the people who are looking forward to the sixth staging in 2020.
Freddy Sayer,
Visionary of HPP
Forty Feet Above the Ground!
Near to the end of this particular prayer meeting in 1993 the leader prayed a prayer in which she asked The Lord how we could be used by Him to help Him build the Church in Hornchurch. She then said, “Let each of us pray this prayer and then wait on the Lord for an answer” and instructed us that if we felt that he was speaking to us by His Holy Spirit (if anyone got a word or a picture) then we were to let her know. Now, being fairly new to the prayer group, my prayer was over quickly and I opened my eyes, only to find everyone was still in deep prayer; so I closed my eyes and prayed for a second time. After a time I looked up to find the prayer group still deep in prayer and so I closed my eyes once more; but, this time, I found myself 40 feet in the air looking down on our church building and, as I looked down, I saw a melee of people standing on the paved area outside the old gate. They were all dressed in Eastern attire and were pushing and shoving, kicking and punching someone. From the onset it looked like a mass brawl then, suddenly, from the centre of this angry mob I saw a man whom I recogonised as Jesus appear. It was his Crucifixion.
Jesus had been on the receiving end of this barbaric treatment and, after His terrible beating, I watched as He attempted to carry the heavy wooden cross towards the place of execution. As I continued to watch Him stagger along the path, it seemed that my focus was on Jesus alone, and His bearing of the cross. The crowd, at this point, seemed to have faded away and as I looked at Him, all alone, a terrible sense of loneliness came upon me. I later felt that Jesus must have been experiencing this same sense of loneliness but to a far greater degree. It was at this point that the scene changed and, again, I found myself still 40 feet in the air but, this time, I was above The Fairkytes Centre in Billet Lane, Hornchurch, looking down on the Queen’s Theatre Green where I saw Jesus being crucified on the cross. It was at this point I cried out saying “Oh Lord how could we do this to you” (meaning “Oh Lord what have we done to you”) but then I was conscious of someone on my left-hand side, and although I didn’t see Him, He spoke to me very clearly saying “YOU ARE TO GET THE PEOPLE FROM THE THEATRE INVOLVED”.
What to Do with the Vision?
This was the end of the vision and I was again conscious of being back with the prayer group. When everyone eventually opened their eyes again, the leader, Jenny Howe, asked us if anyone had seen, or heard anything from the Lord. Nothing was said but I remember thinking, “WOW what was that I saw?”, but I didn’t say anything at the time. In fact I kept quiet until the closure of the prayer meeting and it was only then that I shared the vision with the leader. One thing I was told about the vision was that I was to go home and pray about what I’d seen and heard, to get confirmation and, if it was from The Lord, it would happen. But I was also told that if the vision came from my own imagination then it probably wouldn’t happen. I remember telling people that no way did it come from me, telling them “my world is at pavement level, not 40 feet in the air!” Well, I was obedient to the instructions I’d received and, on praying about it, I was given confirmation by The Holy Spirit that, Yes, the Lord wanted His Church to have a Passion Play in Hornchurch; but He made one stipulation and His orders were explicit: we were to use people from the Professional Theatre (“YOU ARE TO GET THE PEOPLE FROM THE THEATRE INVOLVED”).
The Churches Get Involved
The vision was given for the building of the church, a year later, in early 1994. Graham Pearson, a steward from Hornchurch Methodist Church, attended a Churches Together meeting at St. Andrews and put forward the possibility of carrying out a Passion Play while informing them of the prayer and the subsequent vision. I was later called to an ecumenical meeting, where other denominations attended, wanting to hear and check out the story for themselves. I was again instructed by the Churches to go home and pray about it and to enquire of the Lord as to when would be the best possible time for this play. They also informed me that they would approach the local Queen's Theatre Company to supply our needs, as it was pointed out to me that we needed a professional actor to play Jesus, a professional stage manager to run the production, and a professional music director to form and train a choir. I prayed about the Lord’s timing for the Passion Play and felt it was to take place at Easter 1995. When the churches contacted me they had already decided that 1995 could be a favourable time, as Easter was late that year, but it all rested on the decision of the people from the Queen’s Theatre.
How to get the Theatre Involved?
Many attempts were made to get the help of the Queen’s Theatre, regarding professional personnel, but we were informed that, unfortunately, on this occasion they were not in a position to help us but they would, however, be able to supply us with power, and rooftop access for our lights/sound etc. This was wonderful in itself. We need not have worried. The Lord in His infinite wisdom had already hand picked our people from the Theatre: we just didn’t know it at that time! Whilst we were still busy trying to force doors open, the Lord had been busy elsewhere, preparing and setting apart the people of His choosing, and we have to thank God for the choice He made. I have come to realise that we serve a God of the 11th hour, a God who will take us to the wire many times in our walk with him in order for us to realise that, without Him, we can do nothing. When all looked lost for the 1995 Passion Play and it seemed the people from the theatre hadn’t come through for us, out of the blue, i received a call from Hugh Dibbens, vicar of St Andrews, who informed me of a possible breakthrough.
At Last – the Breakthrough
The breakthrough came in a wonderful way by means of a professional actor named Kevin Walsh (who had recently been given an opportunity to take part in a Passion Play in Rome) and he just happened to be discussing this project with a friend of his. As they chatted, the friend informed Kevin about the plans Hornchurch had, telling him what was needed for our Play to succeed. The rest, as they say, is history because this chance meeting was of God’s will. I say this because not only did we get Kevin (who played Jesus and directed the piece) but he brought two other professional people along with him : Taryn Garwood (who stage managed the piece) and Dominic Wadsworth (Musical Director). These three people (all Catholics) not only earned their equity ticket at the Queen’s Theatre, years earlier, but had trained at R.A.D.A. together and were now working out in the wider world. These were the people from the Theatre whom The Lord used and still is using mightily for His glory (though Dominic has since moved to Ireland). These are the people that helped us put on the Hornchurch Passion Play and we have staged it on four separate occasions: the first being in 1995, the second in 2000, the third in 2006 and the fourth in 2011. These are the people who are looking forward to the sixth staging in 2020.
Freddy Sayer,
Visionary of HPP