Easter Encounter: Love Story

Thursday March 24, 6-10 PM
Friday March 25, 6PM-Midnight
(doors open at 5pm)

Once again, Renaissance Church is presenting a massive interactive art installation to make the message of Christ clear. Over 100 artists, designers and builders collectively create a walk-through experience, not merely for “church people,” but especially for those who may have given up on the faith or are just not too familiar with who Jesus is. 

Our theme this year is “love story” because we really want to communicate that the story of Christ's redemption is one of great love. From before the earth was made, God chose to set his heart upon us and desires to restore us and bring us into a deep loving relationship with himself. This is why the message is often called “good news.” 

Easter Encounter will be open to the public Thursday March 24th 6-10pm and Friday March 25th 6-midnight (doors open at 5 each night). Admission is free. Because of the nature of the experience we don't recommend bringing children under 10 years of age. 

Renaissance Church is a nondenominational church with a wide variety of beautiful people all at different spiritual levels with one common aim: to know God. 

Renaissance Church is located at 184 Broad Street in Providence. If you have questions contact us at info@renchurchri.org. 

Videos from past Easter Encounter events

What to expect

A word from Pastor Scott

If you have never been to Ren Church and are hesitant about coming to Easter Encounter because you just aren't sure what it is, let me encourage you. I absolutely understand how you might be suspicious of churches. When I was a young adult I never went to church, didn't like church and didn't trust churches. I never stepped foot in a church – with the exception of maybe a funeral. To me, the whole “church and Jesus thing” just seemed irrelevant and, to be honest, scary. On top of it, I didn't believe any of the things that church people believed and God knows my lifestyle was nothing like church people. 

I won't go into my whole story but will just say that everything changed. Quite supernaturally I went from thinking Christianity was a crock of man-made nothing to believing it was the most important thing in the world. I'm not exactly sure how that happened but it did. That happened in the Spring of 1989 and I have never been the same. Everything became new, and for 27 years I've been enjoying a deep relationship with Christ. 

But my point is that - 

it was more than I thought it was.

I really thought Christianity was drab and burdensome and just somber religious rituals. I want to encourage you, even if you feel an aversion to “church and Jesus,” to just come. Just come with an open heart to experience the message. No one will push you into anything. We deeply respect everyone's right to choose if they want to make Christ part of their life or not. We just want you to be able to get a clear picture of who Christ is and what the Christian life is about. 

If you have never stepped foot in our church I imagine you might feel nervous. How could you not? You aren't sure what to expect. It's like stepping into the unknown. If I were you that's how I'd feel too. Like, who are these people and what the heck is going to happen in there? But hopefully your intrigue beats out your fear. :)

There's really nothing to be afraid of, though. What will happen is that you come into the front door and there will be a large registration area in our cafe. You'll be placed into a group of 15 people. It's sort of like at the amusement park when they take a certain number into the ride at a time. You'll have a group guide that will take you to each of 10 stations set up in various rooms around our 3 story building. Each station is about a 5-10 minute experience and will aim to communicate a different aspect of the great redemptive love story of God. Specifically, some of the station themes are: creation, the image of God, how sin separated us from God, what the cross is all about, new birth and eternity. Ideas are presented through a wide array of mediums including illustration, film, sound, lighting, sculpture and so on. You can interact with the stations as much or as little as you feel comfortable. You don't have to talk with anyone and won't be asked to do anything you don't want to. 

Last time we did this about 800 people walked through and my guess is that close to half were not “church people.” I can say with honesty that people loved it. Many people felt like they really understood the message of Christ for the first time in their life. Some had experienced God’s love in a very tangible and profound way. I cannot remember one person saying to any of our staff - I wish I didn't come to this. 

Lastly, I want to say that there is no hitch to this. Admission is free. We don't want your money. Don't even bring your wallet. We spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours creating this simply because we love you. We genuinely love our city. We are passionate to include as many people as possible in what we like to call the future “symphony in the sky.” We sincerely just want to invite others to enjoy the spiritual life we are enjoying. 

So my sincere prayer is that you would take the risk and come. If you are nervous then maybe bring a brave friend. When I was 8 years old I went on what at that time was one of the most powerful roller coasters in the country and it scared me silly. I promise it will be nothing like that. For some it will be the single greatest night of their lives - not because they will be stunned by our artistic talent but because they will experience the love of God for the first time in their life. 

My personal email is scottaxtmann@gmail.com and if you have any questions at all feel free to reach out to me. 

Scott
lead pastor