Stations of the cross

I read in Reformed Worship journal of a church that put together a Protestant Stations of the Cross (based on the Catholic devotional practice) for their worshiping community. I knew I wanted to do something similar here in Black Mountain, given the abundance of talented and dedicated artistic folks in our congregation. The plan morphed over a period of several weeks, but finally culminated in a series of five stations in our fellowship hall for Palm Sunday worship at FirstLight. We have kept the stations in place during Holy Week; the plan is to start dis-assembling them tomorrow. Folks at the early service on Sunday seemed to appreciate the experience (it took the place of a sermon on this day). And there has been a trickle of folks all week to stop in and see them also.

The first station was the upper room, site of the last supper and where Jesus washed the disciples' feet. David Kaylor used his wood carvings to create a tableau.



The second station was Jesus at prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Fred Barkley used elements from the forest around his home to create a miniature garden that transitioned from a place of prayer, to a valley of shadows and ultimately the mount of Calvary.

The thirds station was Jesus' arrest in the garden and his trial. Gene Schimpf made a multi-media installation that included a flaming torch and a recording of a rooster crowing (emblematic of Peter's denial).


The fourth station was Jesus on the cross. Martha Jane Peterson created a new fabric banner that symbolized the torn shroud in the temple as well as the crown of thorns with which Jesus was mocked.


The last station was Jesus in the tomb. For this Andy Gwynn created a wood and wire frame for paper-mache which our children completed; all the remained was a little bit of staging to complete this tableau.



We also created a very impressive printed guide which provided scripture readings, pastoral reflections, prayers, notes about the installations and an appropriate hymn text for each station. As with any venture there is room for improvement, but we were all very pleased with this experience as the main content of a worship service for Palm Sunday and as a devotional tool during Holy Week.

You can see and read the complete descriptive piece we prepared for the stations experience here as a pdf file.