Way of the Cross procession along Oxmoor Road marks Good Friday tradition

A man carrying a 7-foot-tall wooden cross led a procession down Oxmoor Road Friday afternoon.

At each of 10 stops from Homewood Central Park to Edgewood Presbyterian Church, clergy from area churches led the group in readings and prayers centered around Jesus' death on the cross.

"Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world," those present read in unison at each stop as a part of the litany. As departed down the road, their voices united again, "Let us continue our Way of the Cross."

A group of Homewood churches organize the Way of the Cross service each year on Good Friday, the Christian holiday held the Friday before Easter. In church tradition, Way of the Cross refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and also to the prayers Christians say when contemplating those images.

Churches participating in the service were All Saints' Episcopal Church, Bethel AME, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Dawson Family of Faith, Edgewood Presbyterian Church, Friendship Baptist Church, Oakmont United Methodist Church, Raleigh Avenue Baptist Church, Second Presbyterian Church, Shades Valley Lutheran Church and Trinity United Methodist Church.