The marquee mushrooming in a field at Drumcree yesterday was the first indication that a transformation in the countryside surrounding the Co Armagh church is about to occur.
No doubt, as the weekend draws closer, the marquee will be joined by many other tents of varying sizes and colours, along with a variety of stalls and chip vans. All now part and parcel of any Drumcree standoff.
For the Rev John Pickering, however, the prospect of another confrontation at the picturesque country church presents him with a situation unique in his vocation.
Mr Pickering is rector of Drumcree Church of Ireland parish, in which he has served for over 15 years. Prior to his arrival at Drumcree in 1983 he had served in parishes on both sides of the Border and spent a period working for the National Bible Society of Ireland in Dublin. He cannot therefore be termed purely a "Northern cleric".
"I never dreamt when I came here that this would happen," Mr Pickering remarked. "I always keep saying, how come I ended up here? But the thing is, I believed God wanted me to be here and if I did not believe that, I would be totally frustrated."
He looks at the "problems" of his parish in a philosophical light, saying that "if I was somewhere else then it would have its own problems and its own situation. No matter where you go there is a particular situation you have to work towards. However, God must have a part for me to play and that is why I am here".
John Pickering refuses to be drawn into any form of comment on the political issues of the Drumcree Orange parade, saying his role is a pastoral one. He says people come to his church to worship God; his responsibility is to inform them of the word of God.
That responsibility has led him to reject a call from the General Synod of the Church of Ireland to withdraw the invitation to Portadown Orangemen to attend next Sunday morning's service at Drumcree.
"Everyone is welcome to attend morning service next Sunday morning, including the Orangemen," Mr Pickering commented. In making that statement he has the backing of his select vestry and congregation: a fact that will not go unnoticed in the hierarchy of the Church of Ireland.
"Many of my parishioners are members of the Orange Order. They come faithfully to church week after week," Mr Pickering said. "One Sunday in the year they attend wearing an Orange collarette. Am I to turn them away because of that? You can't do that."
The rector said that "up until the Synod started to discuss this matter people were concerned about their civil liberties". "Once the Synod came in, people became very anxious about their religious liberties. People have more to say about the curtailment of their religious liberties than their civil liberties". Mr Pickering says that Drumcree has unfortunately and unfairly been seen as the symbol of all Northern Ireland's problems coming to a head: problems that existed long before the Drumcree parade hit the headlines.
However, he maintains that Drumcree can become a symbol of something good, a turning point for Northern Ireland, should both parties find a solution to the current impasse. Drumcree would then become a symbol of hope and a new beginning.
Next Sunday Mr Pickering's sermon to the Portadown Orange district will be based on the theme of "divisions". Divisions between God and man and man to man.
"If man can be reconciled to God I believe that men will be reconciled to each other," the rector said. "That is my belief."
Those intent on causing trouble "must stay away", he declared. "Violence must be avoided at all costs. It will not resolve this problem. I pray that the situation will be peacefully resolved before next Sunday."