Star Wars fun mixed with faith for Sutton Coldfield church service

Wylde Green United Reformed Church is hosting a Star Wars-themed service in order to bring faith and fun together.

The event comes in the same week as ‘May the Fourth’ although this Sunday falls on May 8.

Activities at the Britwell Road church will start at 10am with a ‘make your own lightsaber workshop’ for children followed by the themed service.

Reverend Chris Dowd said: “We did one online during the pandemic and the children loved it so I did promise once we were back we would do one in person.

“During the service, we will be talking about how Star Wars and Christianity can be very similar. We all yearn for good to triumph over evil. We all want heroes.

“Many of us also ask, is there something out there and what does it look like? People come up with completely different answers.

"We will be singing hymns about the universe. There’s a hymn called Shine Jesus Shine and we will all be waving our lightsabers to that!”

The congregation will be invited to dress up as their favourite Star Wars character, with revd Dowd dressing up as Obi Wan Kenobi.

“It’s incredible how enduring the entire star Wars film series has been,” added revd Dowd.

“It’s part of our culture so why not celebrate it in church? The idea is to show the church can be serious and fun simultaneously.

"We are not stuffy or without a sense of humour. It will hopefully get people to think about faith in a slightly different way, perhaps, and show the church can reflect on culture too. This will be about fun, as well as faith, and people can engage.”

The church also has other plans for the summer ahead.

“At the end of June, we will have a 1950s service and a flower festival which is jubilee-themed,” revd Dowd added.

“We are going to recreate a service that was conducted in the church in 1953 and that will be great fun, with people dressed in clothes reflective of the time.”