CAPTION: St Thomas Baptist Church was given a Narnia makeover for school children to experience The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Exeter Schools Charity Turns Church into Narnia
The children start and end the experience at Coombe Halt station where they reflect on the story of Jesus.
The Exeter ICE Trust recently transformed St Thomas Baptist Church for the ‘Narnia Experience’.
Exeter ICE is a schools work charity providing Christian education programs in the local area.
The Narnia experience takes children on an immersive interactive journey through the story of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, interacting with the characters, and learning about the inspiration behind CS Lewis’s writings.
The Exeter ICE team take the children through the wardrobe into Narnia.
After arriving in the main room set up as Coombe Halt station, the children visit CS Lewis’ office to hear how he was inspired by the story of Jesus in the Bible when he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia. They then pass through the wardrobe into a wintery wonderland where they are greeted by Mr Tumnus.
Anne-Marie Immanuel and Sally Naylor are on the Primary School Team at Exeter ICE and as well as organising the Narnia Experience, they also take part as Mr Tumnus and Mrs Beaver.
Anne-Marie said: “Our tagline is ‘bringing faith to life’ which involves going into schools and bringing faith to where the kids are, but also showing them through experiences like this.
“We want to show that the life of faith is exciting and that there is real joy to be had in being a follower of Jesus.”
The children write down their thoughts and reflections throughout the experience.
This is the 4th time the Narnia Experience has happened at St Thomas, returning after the pandemic prevented it from running.
The Narnia Experience for schools was started by London City Mission and helped the ICE Trust bring it to Exeter.
Throughout the week they welcomed 14 school groups, 2 home education groups and a youth group, over 300 children and young people attended in total.
Sally said: “It’s been amazing to be back after a break of 3 years. This experience has shown us how important it is to really be in the place rather than just watch it or hear about it.”
“Some of the children won’t have heard of Narnia before; some will be very well acquainted but won’t know what inspired CS Lewis.
“You have these moments where someone will say: ‘I didn’t know Aslan represented Jesus’ or ‘I didn’t know what Jesus came to do’ and they want to go home and read the stories.
“We want to be a springboard for them to explore for themselves.”
One of the stops on the experience is Mr and Mrs Beaver’s House
Exeter ICE work closely with St Thomas Baptist Church and a willing team of volunteers who help facilitate the experience and fill out the rest of the cast.
Anne-Marie said: “It does take a lot of work and thinking outside the box. We couldn’t have done this without all of the people who’ve given their time and their prayers.
“You don’t necessarily need lots of resources or lots of money or even lots of space. The most important thing we have found doing this project is having the people with a heart to share their love of Jesus with their community.”
Find out more about the Exeter ICE here: https://icetrust.co.uk/narnia/
